The Dying Alexander (Detail)

Head of The Dying Alexander (detail) , 17th-18th century copy after the famous antique marble head in the Uffizi, Florence

A dark mist crossed the sky, and a bolt of lightning was seen to fall from heaven into the sea, and with it a great eagle. And the bronze statue of Arimazd in Babylon quivered; and the lightning ascended into heaven, and the eagle went with it, taking with it a radiant star. And when the star disappeared in the sky, Alexander too had shut his eyes

The Legend had begun.

~The Nature of Alexander by Mary Renault~

Dying Alexander

Head of the so called Dying Alexander, Hellenistic art, Uffizi Gallery.

A dark mist crossed the sky, and a bolt of lightning was seen to fall from heaven into the sea, and with it a great eagle. And the bronze statue of Arimazd in Babylon quivered; and the lightning ascended into heaven, and the eagle went with it, taking with it a radiant star. And when the star disappeared in the sky, Alexander too had shut his eyes

The Legend had begun.

~The Nature of Alexander by Mary Renault~