Alexander the Great (356 – 323 BC) taming Bucephalus
Benjamin Robert Haydon (Plymouth 1786 – London 1846)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1826 - 1827 (exh at RA)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1530 x 1930 mm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Petworth House and Park, West Sussex
NT 485149
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), taming Bucephalus by Benjamin Robert Haydon (Plymouth 1786 – London 1846), 1826/27. Alexander centre, on a black horse with at left, a woman, holding a baby kneeling with back turned and a man in armour standing. At right is Philip the King seated, the Queen, Olympias, standing by him, their arms raised. Behind a city and crowd can be seen. The horse Bucephalus was brought to Alexander's father, Philip of Macedomia by a Thessalian breeder who had named the horse after its distinctive brand mark: 'Ox-head'. Though it was a fine horse and a high price was being demanded, no one could master it. Alexander bet Philip that he could tame the horse and ride him. He faced the horse into the sun so that it could not be disturbed by its own shadow, walked it about, calmed it down, then jumped on it and rode it. Philip is said to have remarked that Alexander had better get himself another kingdom as Macedonia was not big enough to hold them.
Provenance
Recorded at No. 4, Grosvenor Place in 1847 and at Petworth by 1856, thence by descent; on loan from the Egremont Private Collection
Credit line
Petworth House, The Egremont Collection
Makers and roles
Benjamin Robert Haydon (Plymouth 1786 – London 1846) , artist