# The Revenge of Tomyris [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [COXCIE, Michiel van]() - Date: 1501-1550 - Technique: Oil on wood, 185 x 175 cm ## Commentary The Revenge of Tomyris c. 1620 Oil on wood, 185 x 175 cm Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna Tomyris was the queen of nomadic people Massagetae in central Asia in ancient times. According to Herodotus \(1:214\), Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian empire, met his death in battle against her. The painting depicts Tomyris submerging the severed head of Cyrus, King of Persia, in a basin of human blood, having repulsed his invasion of her lands in a violent battle in 530 B.C. This large panel is a free copy of a composition by the Master of Flémalle. The original painting is lost, it is known only from the copy by Coxcie. The present painting is a copy of Coxcie's composition, painted around 1620. ## Related artworks - [Annunciation]() - [Christina of Denmark]() - [Detail of the Colosseum]() - [Killing of Abel]() - [Original Sin]() - [Saint Cecilia]() - [The Circumcision of Christ \(detail\)]() - [The Expulsion of Hagar]() - [The Torture of St George]() - [Trionfi series: The Triumph of Chastity]() - [Trionfi series: The Triumph of Death]() - [Trionfi series: The Triumph of Fame]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()