# Mount Athos Carved as a Monument to Alexander the Great

**Pierre Henri de Valenciennes** (French, 1750–1819)  
1796  
Oil on canvas  
41.9 × 91.4 cm (16 1/2 × 36 in.); Framed: 59.4 × 109 × 7.7 cm (23 3/8 × 42 7/8 × 3 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1983.36. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/100061).

## About this work

The architect Dinocrates is said to have proposed to Alexander the Great that Mount Athos be carved into a colossal statue of the king, holding a city in one hand and in the other a bowl from which a river would pour. Alexander declined, but the fantastic project, recorded by the Roman writer Vitruvius, fascinated later artists. Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes painted it in 1796 as the companion to his Alexander at the Tomb of Cyrus, turning the mountain itself into a monumental figure presiding over a classical landscape.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Pierre Henri de Valenciennes painted this in 1796, aged 46. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of oil on canvas.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Pierre Henri de Valenciennes](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/pierre-henri-de-valenciennes)

French, 1750–1819

Valenciennes was the leading theorist of French historical landscape. During years in Italy in the late 1770s and 1780s he made small oil sketches outdoors, recording the same rooftops or clouds at different times of day, studies he kept in his studio but which are now his most admired work. His treatise of 1800 urged students to paint from nature, and his teaching helped bring about the Prix de Rome for historical landscape, created in 1817.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: France
- The artist was 46
- Real size: about 16 × 36 in (41 × 91 cm). The 24 × 36 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 18th century
- Subjects: alexander the great, monumental structures, monuments, people, figure, women, men, animals
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/260.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/260/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/mount-athos-carved-as-a-monument-to-alexander-the-great-aic-100061).