Faces of Power: Alexander's Image and Hellenistic Politics

Alexander the Great’s image became one of the most powerful visual languages of the Hellenistic world. Andrew Stewart examines how portraits of Alexander in sculpture, coins, mosaics and other media were created, adapted and reused during his lifetime and after his death, asking not simply what the king looked like but what his image was made to mean.

Bringing art history into direct conversation with Hellenistic politics, Stewart argues that these portraits functioned as carefully constructed expressions of authority rather than neutral likenesses. He traces how rulers and communities mobilised recognisable features of the Alexander image for different audiences and political purposes. Extensively illustrated and grounded in close analysis of the surviving material evidence, this is a substantial specialist study of portraiture, kingship and the creation of political identity after Alexander.