# The Battle of Arbela

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/le-brun-charles-re4c02546b24da8/the-battle-of-arbela-ra8c3c7582f374a>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [LE BRUN, Charles](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/le-brun-charles-re4c02546b24da8>)
- Date: 1651-1700
- Technique: Oil on canvas, 470 x 1265 cm

## Commentary

This vast canvas is part of a series of four commissioned by Louis XIV from Le Brun. It is a cartoon for a tapestry woven at the Gobelins manufactory in Paris. The final clash between the troops of Alexander and those of the Persian king Darius took place on the plain of Gaugamela, near Arbela \(in modern-day Iraq\). Le Brun depicted the moment when, the Macedonians having gained the upper hand, Darius prepares to flee on a horse brought to him by a groom.

## Related artworks

- [Adoration of the Shepherds](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/le-brun-charles-re4c02546b24da8/adoration-of-the-shepherds-r805c0f48777846>)
- [Aerial view](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/le-brun-charles-re4c02546b24da8/aerial-view-r075ef0baa12a95>)
- [Alexander and Porus \(detail\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/le-brun-charles-re4c02546b24da8/alexander-and-porus-detail-r2207f9b816145f>)
- [Alexander and Porus](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/le-brun-charles-re4c02546b24da8/alexander-and-porus-r71746dc2889e18>)
- [Alexander and Porus](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/le-brun-charles-re4c02546b24da8/alexander-and-porus-rcd690a3fa4c950>)
- [Alexander Entering Babylon, or The Triumph of Alexander](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/le-brun-charles-re4c02546b24da8/alexander-entering-babylon-or-the-triumph-of-alexander-r9bdc1cc47ed8a4>)
- [Alexander Entering Babylon, or The Triumph of Alexander](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/le-brun-charles-re4c02546b24da8/alexander-entering-babylon-or-the-triumph-of-alexander-ra8a749f730ca02>)
- [Allegory: Sculpture Working on the King&#39;s Bust](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/le-brun-charles-re4c02546b24da8/allegory-sculpture-working-on-the-kings-bust-r4566a5ac7837a8>)
- [Apotheose of Louis XIV](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/le-brun-charles-re4c02546b24da8/apotheose-of-louis-xiv-r1271f485b1da94>)
- [Capture of the City and Citadel of Gand in Six Days, 1678](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/le-brun-charles-re4c02546b24da8/capture-of-the-city-and-citadel-of-gand-in-six-days-1678-rd80bcbdf75a1dd>)
- [Chancellor Séguier at the Entry of Louis XIV into Paris](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/le-brun-charles-re4c02546b24da8/chancellor-sguier-at-the-entry-of-louis-xiv-into-paris-r0edc80bc8b4a6d>)
- [Crossing the Granicus](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/le-brun-charles-re4c02546b24da8/crossing-the-granicus-r6213e716ec735d>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)