Plate 8: Alexander Encircling the Enemy Troops with Fire, from The Deeds of Alexander the Great
Medium
Etching, first state of two (Bartsch)
Dimensions
Sheet: 8 3/4 × 11 1/4 in. (22.3 × 28.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951
Accession Number
51.501.4091
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the dramatic world of ancient conquest with *Plate 8: Alexander Encircling the Enemy with Fire*, from Antonio Tempesta and Johannes Baptista Vrint's renowned series *The Deeds Alexander the Great* (1608). This captures the Macedonian king in a bold tactical maneuver, surrounding his foes with flames amid a chaotic swirl of horses, warriors, and weapons—a vivid nod to Alexander's legendary campaigns, blending historical myth with Renaissance fascination for classical heroes. Tempesta, a masterful Italian artist known for his dynamic Baroque battle scenes teeming with motion and anato...
About the Artist
Antonio Tempesta|Johannes Baptista Vrints · 1555–1630
Antonio Tempesta (1555–1630), known as 'Il Tempestino,' was a Florentine painter and printmaker whose extraordinary output of approximately 1,700 etchings made him one of the most influential printmakers of the early Baroque period. Born in Florence and trained under Santi di Tito and the Flemish master Joannes Stradanus, he enrolled in the Accademia del Disegno in 1576 before relocating to Rome i...