A drawing of Alexander the Great, in 'Persian' dress, standing in a niche, a cupid playing with a cuirass at his feet. Inscribed by the artist, ‘Alessandro magno con la corazza ai piedi, et con ū chupido che aquelle scherzi labito dall'alesandro sara longa ala p(er)siana molle e lasivo’ (‘Alexander the Great with his cuirass at his feet and with a cupid. The dress of Alexander is to be long, in the Persian fashion, soft and feminine’). A second study of the subject is at RCIN 905000; given the similarities in design and the almost identical inscriptions, the two were likely designs for the same project.

The drawing is one of nine by Farinati depicting emperors and ancient kings held in the Royal Collection: others show the Emperors Vitellius, Julius Caesar and Vespasian, Alexander the Great (two further drawings), Attila the Hun, and King David (RCINs 904994–905002). Shown standing in niches or on plinths, or seated on architectural elements, the figures were likely intended to appear as fictive statues, integrated into painted interior decoration scheme, possibly for libraries - rooms which were traditionally furnished with portraits of significant rulers. Elsewhere are studies of Emperor Antoninus Pius in the Ashmolean, Oxford (Parker, 1956, cat no.222); of Mithridates, King of Pontus, in the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh (inv. no.: D 1598); of the Emperor Nero in Christ Church, Oxford (Byam Shaw, 1976, cat. no. 787) and the Emperor Vitellius, in the National Gallery of Art, Washington (inv. no.: 1975.71.3).

The Royal Collection holds forty-seven sheets by Farinati and his followers. It is probable that most, if not all, were acquired during the reign of Charles II. A list of albums at Kensington Palace in 1727 includes one volume of drawings by Farinati and his followers, in which this sheet was housed.The album contained RCINs 904973–905026, with other sheets by Farinati housed in a miscellaneous album. These volumes were subsequently broken up and the drawings were mounted separately.