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Charles Le Brun's dictatorship at the field of arts lasted till the death of Colbert in 1683. The latter's successor, Louvois, had for many years been a supporter of Le Brun's rival, Pierre Mignard, by whom Le Brun found himself gradually displaced. In 1689 Louvois brought to a head the rivalry between his favourite and Le Brun by commissioning from Mignard a Tent of Darius in direct competition with Le Brun's acknowledged masterpiece.
Mignard painting, titled in the Hermitage as Magnanimity of Alexander the Great, was at the time much admired, though to us it seems tired and hollow, lacking the gusto of Le Brun's design and missing equally the classical poise and harmony of Domenichino and Poussin, the two models whom Mignard seems to have followed.
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