Macedonian Soldier

In an arid landscape evocative of the remote lands through which Alexander the Great’s army travelled, two marble columns rise behind the noble figure of a Macedonian foot soldier. The soldier is wearing armour, on his head is a plumed helmet and he is wrapped in a large cloak, pinned at the shoulder and billowing in the wind.
The tapestry is part of the series depicting the story of Alexander and was probably woven towards the end of the seventeenth century in the town of Felletin in France. Like the panel portraying The Triumph of Alexander it is much smaller in width than the others. It condenses and exalts the statuesque figure of the heroic soldier who followed his king into battle and thus contributed to the birth of a vast empire. It is decorated with the same military-themed border as the other ‘Alexandrian’ tapestries, consisting of a pattern of arms, flags, trumpets and drums.