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Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileThe scene shows the seated Roxana being attended to by cupids while Alexander approaches from the center, extending a crown towards her. To the right, a group of putti play with Alexander’s discarded spear and armor, a visual metaphor for the transition from war to love. The composition is a preparatory study for a fresco in the bedroom of Agostino Chigi at the Villa Farnesina.
This work is a Renaissance reconstruction of a lost ancient painting by Aetion, based entirely on a written description (ekphrasis) by the 2nd-century author Lucian of Samosata. It represents the humanist effort to revive classical antiquity and the Neoplatonic theme of the harmony between Mars (strength/war) and Venus (beauty/love).
Lucian of Samosata
Raphael used Lucian's detailed description of a lost ancient Greek painting to reconstruct this iconographic scene.
Object
Oil on panel
mythological
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Self-scanned
1121 × 804 px
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on March 31, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.