Circle by CHARLES LE BRUN (Paris, 1619-1690); circa 1700."The family of Darius before Alexander".Oil on canvas.Measurements: 100 x 126 cm; 120 x 146 cm (frame).This work follows the model established by the artist Charles Le Brun in 1660, when he made a painting of the same subject, which today is preserved in the Palace of Versailles. Le Brun's work has the same composition, however, in this particular case, the landscape format allows for a greater number of characters. In the central area, the same composition is reproduced as the one already mentioned, with the Mother of Darius kneeling on the ground in front of the erect figures of Alexander and Hephaestius. Several characters that form a large procession, are sheltered under the canvas of a tent, as in Le Brun's painting. But in this particular case, the artist has allowed himself a license by portraying a group of soldiers who are arranged in the right area of the painting. The scene depicts the moment in which, after the battle of Issos, Alexander and his friend Hephaestius decided to visit the family of Darius, who had been defeated. Due to Alexander's youth, Darius' mother, confused, knelt before Hephaestius.Charles Le Brun was a French painter and an important art theorist. He trained in the workshop of Simon Vouet as a child, receiving commissions from Cardinal Richeliu at the age of fifteen. Between 1642 and 1646 he was in Rome, coming into contact with works by Raphael, Guido Reni, the Bolognese school, etc., and where he was also a disciple of Poussin. He returned to Paris, and continued with an important work, reaching his stylistic maturity towards the middle of the century (classicist and elegant painting). He was ennobled by Louis XIV, who named him Premier Peintre du Roi in 1664.His work is preserved in the Louvre Museum in Paris, in Versailles, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, United States), the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon (France), the Hermitage in St. Petersburg (Russia), the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. (United States), the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, etc.