The Siege of the City of Alesia

The cycle of history paintings commissioned by Duke William IV of Bavaria and his wife, Jakobaea of Baden, which also included Albrecht Altdorfer’s Battle of Alexander and Darius at Issus (see fig. 1, p. 28), is regarded as the embryo of the Munich collection of paintings. Feselen’s painting was also part of this group. According to the Latin inscription in the medallion above the coat of arms of the donors, it depicts Caesar’s victory over the Gauls with the conquest of the city of Alesia. It is not just the exact depiction of contemporary clothing and war technologies that make the ancient subject contemporary: the German imperial double-headed eagle is emblazoned on the standards of the assembled Roman troops, whereas the French lily can be found on the flags of the defeated Gauls, among whom there are also Ottomans. The French and the Ottomans were thus openly identified as enemies of the empire.