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LUCIANO BORZONE Genoa 1590 - Milan 1645 The emissaries of Alexander the Great deliver the sceptre and the keys of the city of Sidon to Abdalonimo Oil on canvas Dimensions 132 x 166.5 cm The Genoese painter Luciano Borzone was trained under the mastery of Cesare Corte and Gioacchino Assereto who instilled in him a style that combines the elegant and colourful imprint of Van Dyck with the naturalistic drama of Caravaggio. Borzone's pictorial production covers an important range of genres that go from portraiture to evangelical and historical episodes. This work that we are now presenting captures the moment in which the young Hephaestus, emissary of Alexander the Great, hands over the royal insignia of the kingdom of Sidon to the elderly Abdalomino. The arrangement of the characters denotes a careful study of psychological interactions through gestures and postures of great theatricality. The facial expressions infer a strong emotional charge, capturing the attention of the spectator from the first moment. In this sense, the character who directs his gaze towards the spectator, possibly a self-portrait of Borzone, is striking. The painter applies an enveloping chiaroscuro that gives the scene an atmosphere of great effectiveness, in beautiful contrast with the rich chromatic tones of the attire of some of the characters. In the La Cohue Fine Arts Museum in Vannes (France) there is a version of this same scene but of poorer quality that could well be a copy. We thank the researcher Tiziana Zennaro for her help in cataloging this work.