Powerful rulers of the past, as well as athletes, gods, and heroes, were generally depicted naked with idealized physiques as an expression of their exalted status. The hair and facial features of this figure resemble those in portraits of Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE), the Macedonian-Greek ruler and general who conquered a vast empire. He was deeply admired by Europeans during the 1500s and 1600s, as he had been by the Romans.
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