Il Sodoma’s The Marriage of Alexander and Roxane presents a royal marriage within an elaborate interior that resembles an aristocratic Renaissance chamber. Roxane is located in the center of the picture, sitting on the bridal bed and looking down, while Alexander is standing in front of her, approaching her with a garland. The difference in their postures creates the main focal point of the picture – Roxane looks collected and calm, while Alexander is depicted in an active gesture, approaching his wife.
The main characters are surrounded by many little winged figures, whose activities make the rather formal ritual of marriage come alive. Some of them serve Roxane, lifting her veil or helping her with shoes. The second one brings Alexander closer to his bride. However, there are other putti, who play with the symbols of Alexander – his spear, shield, and armor.
The presence of another figure, with the torch in his hand, adds to the notion that it is really a ceremonial scene. The positioning of the secondary characters does not allow the composition to remain static; it becomes dynamic throughout the whole picture. Architectural details and furnishings provide an enclosed space, while the placing and overlap of the figures make the scene quite deep.
The image has been borrowed from the description of an ancient work of art painted by the Greek painter Aetion, whose description has been recorded by Lucian. Sodoma has taken the ancient description and adapted it for the Renaissance viewers, while the overall placing of the figures shows the influence of the Renaissance concepts related to the works of Raphael.
The treatment of Alexander’s weapons is particularly effective within the composition. Although the setting is devoted to marriage, his armour and weapons remain visibly present, allowing the artist to retain his image as a conqueror. The playful treatment of these objects by the putti creates a deliberate contrast between warfare and affection. Through elegant figures, elaborate costumes, movement, and the interaction of classical and contemporary visual ideas, Sodoma transforms the ancient story into a sophisticated Renaissance representation of marriage, royalty and heroic identity.
Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (Sodoma)’s Wedding of Alexander and Roxane is a monumental fresco executed around 1519 in the Villa Farnesina, Rome, for the Sienese banker Agostino Chigi. The fresco forms the centrepiece of the bedroom’s decorative cycle devoted to the marriage of Alexander the Great and Roxane. The fresco depicts Alexander presenting the crown to Roxane, who sits on the edge of an elaborate marriage bed. Around them are winged cupids, who play with Alexander’s armour and weapons. The figures of Hymen, the god of marriage and Hephaestion reinforce the ceremonial and erotic dimensions of the scene. The subject was based on Lucian’s description of an ancient painting by Aetion, making the fresco an important Renaissance attempt to reconstruct the grandeur of lost classical art. The work therefore combines classical literary sources with contemporary High Renaissance visual language. Particularly significant is Sodoma’s use of expensive materials such as gold and lapis lazuli, suggesting the exceptional importance of the marriage scene within the cycle.
