OK, the picture is titled "the conception of Alexander the Great"
Most versions of the legend of Alexander claim that Nectanebo, the last native Egyptian pharoah, prophesied for Olympias that she would be visited and conceive a child by Ammon, an Egyptian god with the body of a man and a ram's head. While King Philip was away on military campaign, Nectanebo disguised himself as Ammon, visited the queen's bedroom, and impregnated her. The resulting child was Alexander
Which is bizarre, because that is a dragon, not a man with a ram's head.
I think the girl looks very young too. I wonder how old she is supposed to be in this drawing.
People can argue about "there was no dark ages" and I'll believe them all day long, but medieval art was shit. I think it's just a shitty rendering.
(post is archived)