Persian Prisoners

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Persian Prisoners

Creator

Boucicaut Master

French Illuminator · 1390–1430

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In the early 1400s, the Boucicaut Master was the leading master of manuscript illumination in Paris and one of the most influential artists working in the International style in northern Europe. The Boucicaut Master appears to have supervised a talented team of artists who produced manuscripts commissioned by the king of France, high-ranking aristocrats, and the wealthy bourgeoisie. He probably al

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Date: about 1413–1415
Medium: Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold paint, and ink
Culture: French
Department: Manuscripts
Institution: Getty Museum

The men held in the stocks may be Persian prisoners of war, taken after a series of battles between Alexander the Great and Darius III, king of Persia, in which the Persians sustained great losses. According to Boccaccio, very few of the 500,000 Persian foot soldiers and horsemen who participated in the final engagement survived. On the other hand, the miniature might depict Darius himself, who fled the battlefield and was briefly imprisoned after betrayal by his own comrades.

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