A Roman bronze figure of Alexander as an equestrian
Circa 1st Century B.C.-1st Century A.D.
Depicted seated, wearing a cuirass and pleated tunic, his chlamys pinned by a round fibula at his left shoulder and draped around his left arm, with characteristic leonine locks, remains of a headdress, 8.2cm high注脚Provenance:
Mr A. collection, Paris, acquired prior to 1996.

Published:
F. Antonovich, Les Métamorphoses Divines d'Alexandre, Paris, 1996, p. 82.

Alexander was a famously skilled horseman. His trusted steed was Bucephalus, who Plutarch (Lives, 6.1-8) tells us Alexander won in 344 B.C., aged 12 or 13, by way of a wager with his father, King Philip II. Philonicus the Thessalian offered Bucephalus to Philip for 13 talents, a hefty price. Philip thought the horse unbreakable, but Alexander bet he could tame the horse and, if he could not, offered to pay the cost himself. Alexander of course won the bet, subduing the anxious horse by speaking soothingly, and turning him towards the sun so he could no longer be distressed by his own shadow. Thereafter, they were inseparable, until Bucephalus died as a result of injuries sustained at the Battle of the Hydaspes in June 326 B.C.