Not currently on view
In the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · as of August 2026
FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG
This drawing of a young soldier setting fire to a cart of war trophies may represent a rarely depicted legend about the Macedonian king Alexander the Great (356–323 BC), who built one of the largest empires of the ancient world by the time he was 30 years old. Because the heavy spoils of war were slowing down his troops, Alexander set fire to his own cart of goods to encourage his soldiers to do the same. Renaissance princes revered him as a brilliant military strategist. Emperor Maximilian I (reigned 1486–1519), pictured in the equestrian portrait and in the great triumphal car nearby, considered Alexander a distant ancestor.
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Peter Paul Rubens|Anonymous, Italian, 16th century|Raphael (
Polidoro da Caravaggio — Soldier
Michel François Dandré-Bardon — Louis XV as a Roman Emperor
Peter Paul Rubens — Battle Scene
Battle of the Milvian Bridge (fragment) (verso)
Andrea Andreani (Italian, about 1558–1610) — The Triumph of
Andrea Andreani (Italian, about 1558–1610) — The Triumph of
Andrea Mantegna — Triumph of Caesar: Soldiers carrying Troph
Albrecht Dürer — Knight on Horseback and Landsknecht
Andrea Andreani (Italian, about 1558–1610) — The Triumph of
Anonymous, German, 16th century — Knight on Horseback
Anonymous, German, 17th century — Marcus Aurelius on Horseba