The Battle of Alexander at Issus

Tens of thousands of tiny soldiers swarm the field as Alexander the Great routs the Persians of Darius, the clash set beneath a vast, curving cosmic sky where the sun blazes over a world-spanning landscape and the moon hangs opposite, a golden tablet floating above to name the battle. Altdorfer, master of the Danube School, turns a single ancient combat into a vision of the whole earth and heavens - history as cosmic event. Painted as the Ottomans pressed on Vienna, its Persians read as Turks. His luminous Resurrection and forest leave-taking are also in this collection.