"Alexander the Great and Dying Darius", Folio from a Majma' al-Tavarikh (Compendium of Histories) of Hafiz-i Abru
ca. 1425
Medium
Opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on brownish paper
Dimensions
H. 17 in. (43.2 cm) W. 13 in. (33 cm)
Classification
Codices
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1952
Accession Number
52.20.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold the poignant scene of *Alexander the Great and Dying*, a folio from Hafiz-i Abru's *Majma' al-Tavarikh* (Compendium Histories), crafted around 1425 during the Timurid renaissance in Persia. This illuminated manuscript page captures a legendary moment from Alexander's conquests: the Macedonian king discovering the mortally wounded Persian ruler Darius III, a tale drawn from ancient chronicles romanticized in Islamic lore. Hafiz-i Abru, a renowned Timurid historian and illustrator, blended meticulous scholarship with artistry, making this compendium a treasure of 15th-century Persian hist...