Worthies
A remarkable feature of medieval literature is the demonstrated interest in "worthies," who were powerful figures admired for their outstanding rulership, extreme religiosity, or other extraordinary accomplishments. Although such worthies had lived hundreds of years prior to the veneration, this revival of their triumphs affirms the neoclassical sentiment of the period. Another reason these figures were often depicted is because contemporary artists were inspired by the Roman monuments and subsequently sought to imitate them.[1] When seeking triumphant subjects to portray ancient depictions were often the source, as the objects below (both of which from the 15th century) exemplify.
This depiction of Alexander the Great's triumph appears to be a painted cassone panel in a similar style to the painted panel of Petrarch's Trionfi. The panel expresses a celebratory procession of elegantly-clad horses and people, akin to the grand processions entering Rome or Constantinople.
This engraving of Caesar's triumph brings us back to our very first object, the "Judaea Capta" coin of Vespasian whose reverse emphasizes the loss of the Jewish people. Caesar himself is not even included in this image, which instead focuses on his soldiers as they transport treasures back from their own defeated enemy.
Since both Alexander and Caesar had so many victories during their rules, it is difficult but also unnecessary to know which events these objects might depict. On the contrary, the meaning of these objects comes from their status as symbolic representations, rather than actualizations, of triumph.
[1] Baskins, Cristelle Louise, The Triumph of Marriage, 9.