The Battle of Arbela
by LE BRUN, Charles, Oil on canvas, 470 x 1265 cm
This vast canvas is part of a series of four commissioned by Louis XIV from Le Brun. It is a cartoon for a tapestry woven at the Gobelins manufactory in Paris.
The final clash between the troops of Alexander and those of the Persian king Darius took place on the plain of Gaugamela, near Arbela (in modern-day Iraq). Le Brun depicted the moment when, the Macedonians having gained the upper hand, Darius prepares to flee on a horse brought to him by a groom.