29/01/2026
Flemish classical tapestry, Brussels,
“Alexander the Great wounded in the thigh at the Battle of Issus”.
Brussels tapestry, from the series ‘History of Alexander the Great’, after the drawings by Jacob Jordaens, circa 1650, attributed to Jan Leyniers’ workshop.
240 7/8 x 158 1/4 in.
612 × 402 cm
With the inscription on the top “alexander darium persequens inter dimicantes in femore levit er mucrone perstrinc itur’ (Alexander, pursuing Darius among the fighters, is slightly wounded in the thigh by a sword)
This tapestry is part of a series on the life of Alexander the Great, designed by Jacob Jordaens in the 1630s.
Our scene depicts the Battle of Issus in 333 BC, one of the most significant episodes in the life of the emperor, for which two preparatory drawings are known, one held at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the other at Berlin Dahlem.
A tapestry with the same theme was sold at Christie’s New York, the Connoisseur’s eye, 2 June 2015, lot 119, one is in the British Royal Collections, five tapestries from the same hanging are in the Palazzo Chigi in Rome, those are signed by Leyniers, the last four in Toledo Cathedral are made by an other weaver.
Another one is preserved the Palazzo Marino in Milan, and was made Jacob II Guebels.
This series on the life of Alexander is a sequel to the tapestry on the life of Charlemagne, based on designs by the same Jacob Jordaens, produced in the same years.
These two moralistic narratives were influential for centuries, with rulers taking inspiration from leaders with qualities to which they wished to aspire. The diplomatic relations and mentoring power of history’s great rulers were popular subjects in historical tapestry series, particularly those of the Baroque period, where great figures were paramount.
