Tapestry, Aubusson, 17th century

Tapestry, Aubusson, 17th century
depicting the entry of Alexander the Great into Babylon, cm. 293x460 (some restoration)The episode is taken from the cycle of the Stories of Alexander the Great, whose preparatory cartoons were painted by Le Brun and created by the Gobelins factory for Louis XIV, then replicated by the Aubusson factory.In 1660, Charles Le Brun, the king's first painter, created a large painting in Fontainebleau depicting the queens of Persia at Alexander's feet (Palace of Versailles). The success of this composition convinced the artist to undertake a monumental cycle on the life of the Macedonian king; in four canvases he depicted: Alexander's entry into Babylon, The passage of the Granique, The battle of Arbelles and Alexander and Porus. The four paintings, monumental in format, were presented at the Salon of 1673 and became part of Louis XIV's collections. Subsequently, the compositions were translated into tapestries at the Gobelins manufactory, directed by Le Brun, and then by that of Aubusson, although it is not certain that these works were destined from the beginning to become tapestry cartoons.The figure of Alexander the Great played a fundamental role at the court of Louis XIV: the king's ambitions found in Alexander a comparison and a model for their true measure. Le Brun's compositions were therefore not just a memory of some famous episodes of Antiquity, but fully participated in the propaganda that glorified the monarchy and the reigning sovereign.