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Source Description
In this companion to "Alexander the Great at the Tomb of Achilles" (Walters 37.510), the Macedonian ruler and general has entered the town of Gordium (in present-day Turkey) in 344 BC. In that city was the chariot of Gordius, the father of the legendary King Midas. The yoke of the wagon was fastened by a complicated knot. It had been prophesied that the one who could loose the knot would become the ruler of Asia. Instead of trying to untie the impossibly difficult knot, Alexander just cut through it with his sword. He went on to conquer Asian kingdoms as far east as Afghanistan.To suggest Asia Minor and the ancient past, Panini introduced a bystander wearing a turban and placed the scene in front of an altar dedicated to Zeus, ruler of the Greek gods, enthroned with his thunderbolt.For more information on this painting, please see Federico Zeri's 1976 catalogue no. 409, pp. 519-520.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
39200
label
Alexander the Great Cutting the Gordian Knot
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
citationUrl
pageCount
2
Source metadata
id
39200
sourceUrl
contentType
drawing
stage
normalized
title
Alexander the Great Cutting the Gordian Knot
description
In this companion to "Alexander the Great at the Tomb of Achilles" (Walters 37.510), the Macedonian ruler and general has entered the town of Gordium (in present-day Turkey) in 344 BC. In that city was the chariot of Gordius, the father of the legendary King Midas. The yoke of the wagon was fastened by a complicated knot. It had been prophesied that the one who could loose the knot would become the ruler of Asia. Instead of trying to untie the impossibly difficult knot, Alexander just cut through it with his sword. He went on to conquer Asian kingdoms as far east as Afghanistan.To suggest Asia Minor and the ancient past, Panini introduced a bystander wearing a turban and placed the scene in front of an altar dedicated to Zeus, ruler of the Greek gods, enthroned with his thunderbolt.For more information on this painting, please see Federico Zeri's 1976 catalogue no. 409, pp. 519-520.
provenance
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [1881 catalogue: no. 154; 1897 catalogue: no. 297]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
ca. 1718-1719 (Baroque)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Painting & Drawing
oil paintings (visual works)
imageCount
2
pageCount
2
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
73.3
height
59.7
dimensionsRaw
Painted surface H: 28 7/8 x W: 23 1/2 in. (73.3 x 59.7 cm)
Source extras
med
oil on canvas
creator_ids
6826
collection_ids
BAR
exhibition_ids
2887
2896
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
bd526ac9646df8e7
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
f1e6ce708cc41e74
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no