Tetradrachm (Coin) Portraying Alexander the Great

-297·Silver·Diam.: 3.1 cm (1 1/4 in.)

<p>Following the premature death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, his generals, friends, and heirs engaged in forty years of wars over his empire. Lysimachus (reigned 323–281 BCE), one of Alexander’s companions and bodyguards, used the king’s image on his own coins in order to cast himself in the role of successor and legitimize his claim to the kingdom of Thrace. Alexander, responsible for establishing the conventions of royal portraiture, is depicted in his preferred manner: youthful and clean-shaven, with long locks of hair rising above his forehead and eyes cast upward. Additionally, he is shown with horns curling around his ears. These “horns of Ammon” symbolize Alexander’s claim that he was the son of the Egyptian god Ammon—a claim reportedly confirmed by the oracle at the sanctuary of Zeus-Ammon at Siwa, Egypt.</p> <p>On the reverse of the coin, Lysimachus exerts his own royal autonomy by naming himself “king.” The goddesses Athena and Nike (Greek for “victory”) crown his name with laurels, which symbolized victory or honor. The lion on the shield at Athena’s side references Lysimachus’s famous exploit of killing a lion with his bare hands and reinforces his association with Alexander, who used the skin of the Nemean lion as a symbol of power and courage.</p>

Catalogue

Year: -297
Medium: Silver
Dimensions: Diam.: 3.1 cm (1 1/4 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Ancient Greek

Artist

Ancient Greek

Sculpture

Ancient Greek art spans a period between about 900 and 30 BCE and is divided into four periods: Geometric, Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic. Throughout that period, artists worked with a wide variety of materials including bronze and stone for sculpture; terracotta for vases and figurines; various pigments for painting; and gold, silver, and bronze for coinage. In the Geometric period, not only were geometric patterns dominant but so too were abstract figures, especially horses , military, and funerary scenes. A lack of inscriptions can make the interpretation of this iconography difficult. Beginning in the 7th century BCE, the Archaic period ushered in an increasingly naturalistic style, especially in depictions of the human form. Influences from Egypt and the Near East can be seen in the appearance of motifs such as the palmette and lotus, along with composite creatures like griffins (bird/lion), sphinxes (human/winged lion), and sirens (bird/woman). Terracotta vases, especially those made in the second half of the sixth century BCE, depict aspects of daily life , funerary rites , warfare , and mythology . Experimentation with new techniques, such as black-figure and red-figure decoration, allowed for a wider range of figures and scenes to be depicted in greater detail. The Classical period, often defined by the Greek defeat of the Persians in 479 BCE, ushered in what is now known as the Golden Age of Greece. The city of Athens dominated the flourishing artistic scene, and the building of the Parthenon (the temple erected between 447 and 432 BCE on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece) paved the way for unprecedented achievements in architecture and sculpture. The final transition to the Hellenistic period, which lasted from about 323 through 30 BCE, occurred following the death of Alexander the Great, who famously spread Greek culture into the lands of his far-reaching conquest. Gods and heroes, who were previously depicted in two-dimensional scenes on vases or rel

Full artist profile →