Search results

Start typing

Portrait of the Artist
This exhibition is in the past. View our current exhibitions.
PIETRO DE' PIETRI (1663-1716)

Apelles painting Campaspe

c. 1700

RCIN 905648

Alexander the Great asked his court artist Apelles to paint a portrait of his concubine, Campaspe, but while doing so Apelles fell in love with her. Alexander intuited from the painting that Apelles' love for Campaspe was greater than his own, so he kept the painting but magnanimously gave Campaspe to the painter. The episode combines themes of the power of art and the generosity of a patron, and in commissioning a painting of the subject a collector could demonstrate that he was conscious of both.

No. 63


    The income from your ticket contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Royal Collection Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities.