Alexander the Great hunting Lions

Painted for Versailles in 1679, this hunt scene situates Alexander the Great in heroic combat with lions, a subject drawn from ancient accounts that emphasized the conqueror's physical courage alongside his military genius. The lion hunt was a prestige subject in European Baroque painting — Rubens's monumental versions set the compositional benchmark — and de La Fosse's treatment engages directly with that northern Baroque energy while filtering it through French taste. The choice of Alexander as a surrogate for Louis XIV was fully legible to contemporary audiences: the Sun King cultivated comparisons to the Macedonian conqueror in poetry, theatre, and painting throughout his reign. De La Fosse composed the scene with kinetic energy unusual in French official painting, reflecting his Italian training and particular admiration for the drama he encountered in Rome. The canvas remains at Versailles as part of its original decorative context.

The composition achieves diagonal dynamism through the overlapping bodies of horses, riders, and lions. De La Fosse uses strong local color contrasts — warm flesh, tawny animal fur, dark foliage — to create visual excitement. Impasto is deployed in the highlights on armour and animal pelts to add tactile energy.