Marriage of Alexander and Roxane

fresco by Sodoma

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June 30, 2026

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The "Marriage of Alexander and Roxane" is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance painter Il Sodoma, whose birth name was Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (1477–1549). This artwork, created around 1516, is located in the Villa Farnesina in Rome. It is considered a significant decorative achievement, comparable to works by Raphael's school in the same villa.12

The fresco depicts a scene related to Alexander the Great, who married Roxane, the daughter of the Bactrian chief Oxyartes, in 327 BCE. Roxane was Alexander's first wife, and after his death, she had his second wife killed. Il Sodoma's work reflects the transition from the High Renaissance to the Mannerist style, often characterized by sensuous beauty and exaggerated emotionalism.3451

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Il Sodoma
…his most successful frescoes, the Marriage of Alexander and Roxane (c. 1516) in the Villa Farnesina, Rome, is often considered a rival as a decorative achievement to the frescoes by the school of Raphael in the same villa. Later in his career Sodoma also painted frescoes for San Domenico in…
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…his most successful frescoes, the Marriage of Alexander and Roxane (c. 1516) in the Villa Farnesina, Rome, is often considered a rival as a decorative achievement to the frescoes by the school of Raphael in the same villa. Later in his career Sodoma also painted frescoes for San Domenico in…
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