The suicide of Cleopatra: Cleopatra stands next to her bed holding the asp in her left hand. Line engraving by R. Strange after G. Reni, 1777.
- Reni, Guido, 1575-1642.
- Date:
- 1777
- Reference:
- 42961i
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Description
Cleopatra VII (69 BC-30 BC), Egyptian Queen, lover of Julius Caesar and later the wife of Mark Antony. After the Roman armies of Octavian (the future Emperor Augustus) defeated their combined forces, Antony and Cleopatra killed themselves, and Egypt fell under Roman domination. Rather than be dragged through the city in which she had been borne as a queen, she killed herself, possibly by means of an asp, symbol of divine royalty.
Publication/Creation
[Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1777.
Physical description
1 print : line engraving, with etching ; image 45.2 x 33 cm
Lettering
Cleopatra. E tabula Guidonis Reni, in Pinacotheca Domini de Montriblou armigeri conservata. Ro. Strange delin. et sculp. 1777. Guido Reni pinxit
Edition
[Le Blanc's state II: with lettering].
References note
Charles Le Blanc,Catalogue de l'oeuvre de Robert Strange, graveur, Leipzig 1848, pp. 24-25, no. 23
Reference
Wellcome Collection 42961i
Type/Technique
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Location Status Access Closed stores