COXCIE, Michiel van
c. 1620
Oil on wood, 185 x 175 cm
Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna

 Search was made among the slain by order of the queen for the body of Cyrus, and when it was found she took a skin, and, filling it full of human blood, she dipped the head of Cyrus in the gore, saying, as she thus insulted the corpse, “I live and have conquered you in fight, and yet by you am I ruined, for you took my son with guile; but thus I make good my threat, and give you your fill of blood.”

From: Herodotus