Two Young Men Confessing to Alexander the Great their Conspiracy against Him
Artist: Nicolai Abildgaard (Danish, 1743-1809
Date: 1798-1802
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark
Description
This painting depicts a scene of the ancient conqueror, Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 BCE), being told of a conspiracy that threatened his life. Although the artwork’s title does not explicitly specify which plot or conspiracy is being depicted, the most likely assumption is that the painting references a nefarious scheme hatched by the king’s royal pages around 327 BCE.
As the story goes, the conspiracy of the royal pages began after a particular page named Hermolaus was punished by Alexander the Great due to a hunting argument. Hermolaus had run afoul of Alexander by killing a boar that Alexander wanted to hunt alone. Alexander, angry that his own chance to kill the boar was stolen, decided to have Hermolaus flogged or whipped as punishment. Hermolaus was bitter after this beating, so he decided to start a conspiracy to assassinate Alexander the Great.
The artwork likely shows Eurylochus dragging in his brother, Epimenes, to the bedside of Alexander the Great to confess about the conspiracy. According to Curtius Rufus’ account, Eurylochus’ actions ended up saving Epimenes’ life. The other conspirators, however, were all reportedly tortured and executed.