Artwork
Alexander the Great Threatened by His Father
Alexander the Great Threatened by His Father is an oil painting by the Barbizon school artist Donato Creti. It dates from 1702 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
The work is an oil painting on canvas, measuring 129.7 cm in height by 97 cm in width. Executed in oil on a stretched canvas support, it employs chiaroscuro modeling to emphasize the contrast between light and shadow and to heighten the psychological tension of the confrontation between father and son. The composition is tightly framed, concentrating attention on the father's threatening gesture, consistent with the early eighteenth-century Bolognese academic tradition in which Donato Creti worked.
History & Provenance
Kress Foundation purchased the work in 1952 and gave it to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.
The painting was created around 1702 by Donato Creti. It first entered the collection of Count Alessandro Fava, an early patron of the artist, and remained in the Fava family, passing to Pietro Ercole Fava (recorded in 1739 and a 1745 inventory) and then to Carlo Fava, until at least the 1770s, when it was in the Palazzo Fava in Bologna.
By 1938 it was with the New York dealer Julius H. Weitzner. The Samuel H. Kress Foundation purchased the work in 1952 and gave it to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., in 1961, where it remains as part of the Samuel H. Kress Collection. It is catalogued with dimensions of 129.7 by 97 cm.
Overview
Donato Creti, a Bolognese painter active at the turn of the 18th century, executed the oil on canvas titled Alexander the Great Threatened by His Father circa 1702. The work portrays a tense encounter between the Macedonian king and his father, Philip II, set amid a gathering of onlookers.
Subject & Meaning
At the composition’s center, Alexander stands in a red cloak and helmet, while Philip points a sword toward his son, suggesting a moment of familial conflict. The surrounding figures observe the confrontation, heightening the sense of drama and emphasizing the theme of authority versus youthful ambition.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Donato Creti (24 February 1671 – 31 January 1749) was an Italian painter of the Rococo period, active mostly in Bologna, Papal States.
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