NO OTHER KING FROM ANTIQUITY HAS SUCH A POWERFUL APPEAL TO THE IMAGINATION AS ALEXANDER THE GREAT (356-323 BC). NOR OTHER KING HAS BEEN SO OFTEN CITED AND DEPICTED AS AN EXAMPLE. THE EXHIBITION 'THE IMMORTAL ALEXANDER THE GREAT' WILL BE ON VIEW FROM 18.SEPTEMBER UNTIL 18.MARCH.2011 IN THE HERMITAGE AMSTERDAM, WITH OVER 350 MASTERPIECES, INCLUDING THE FAMOUS GONZAGA CAMEO FROM THE STATE MUSEUM THE HERMITAGE IN ST PETERSBURG. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT ANY DUTCH MUSEUM HAS DEVOTED AN EXHIBITION TO ALEXANDER THE GREAT, HIS JOURNEY TO THE EAST, AND THE INFLUENCE OF HELLENISM. THE EXHIBITION SPANS A PERIOD OF ALMOST 2500 YEARS. IN THE HERMITAGE AMSTERDAM, THE 'IMMORTAL' ALEXANDER WILL BE BROUGHT TO LIFE FOR SIX MONTHS. ALEXANDER WAS BORN IN 356 BC AS THE SON OF KING PHILIP II OF MACEDONIA. IN BOYHOOD HE WAS TAUGHT BY ARISTOTLE, WHO WOULD BE AN ABIDING INFLUENCE ON HIM. AT TWENTY YEARS OF AGE ALEXANDER SUCCEED TO THE THRONE, FOLLOWING HIS FATHER'S ASSASSINATION. TWO YEARS LATER HE EMBARKED ON THE GREAT EXPEDITION THAT WOULD SEAL HIS FAME. HIS CONQUESTS BROUGHT HIM INTO CONTACT WITH NUMEROUS COUNTRIES AND CULTURES: SYRIA, EGYPT, PERSIA, BACTRIA AND INDIA. HE FOUNDED HEW CITIES WHEREVER HE WENT, NAMING MANY OF THEM ALEXANDRIA. HIS ARRIVAL HAD A LASTING IMPACT ON LOCAL ARCHITECTURE, ART, LANGUAGE AND WAYS OF LIFE: IN THE COURSE OF TIME THEY ASSIMILATED AND DISPLAYED GREEK INFLUENCE, A PROCESS THAT BECAME KNOWN AS HELLENISM. THE GREEK SPHERE OF INFLUENCE WAS VAST: IT EXTENDED FROM ASIA MINOR TO INDIA, FROM EGYPT TO MONGOLIA. ALEXANDER'S NAME AND FAME HAS ENDURED DOWN TO THE PRESENT DAY. THE EXHIBITION IN THE HERMITAGE AMSTERDAM GIVES A PICTURE OF ALEXANDER HIMSELF AND OF THE GREAT CULTURAL AND ARTISTIC CHANGES THAT FOLLOWED IN THE TRAIN OF HIS CONQUESTS.
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