The J. Paul Getty Museum

Alexander the Great in the Air

Object Details

Title:

Alexander the Great in the Air

Artists/Makers:

Unknown

Jansen Enikel

Culture:

German

Place:

Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany (Place Created)

Date:

about 1400 - 1410

Medium:

Tempera colors, gold, silver paint, and ink on parchment

Object Number:

Ms. 33 (88.MP.70), fol. 221

Dimensions:

Leaf: 33.5 × 23.5 cm (13 3/16 × 9 1/4 in.)

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Object Description

In a scene representing one of the stories from the legend of Alexander the Great most popular in the Middle Ages, the world conqueror, dressed as a European monarch might be, is pulled aloft by a pair of griffins and an angel. They hover precariously over a sea filled with an entertaining variety of fish and other creatures. The artist emphasizes the strange chair's upward movement as it carries the group out of the square framework of the miniature and takes off into the text.

Exhibitions
Exhibitions
The Making of a Hero: Alexander the Great from Antiquity to the Renaissance (October 22, 1996 to January 5, 1997)
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum (Malibu), October 22, 1996 to January 5, 1997
Transforming Tradition: Ancient Motifs in Medieval Manuscripts (September 23 to November 30, 2003)
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles), September 23 to November 30, 2003