Cleopatra painting ancient

Why was Cleopatra famous and why did artists depict Cleopatra in art? Philosophers and conquerors, adversaries and lovers, peers and successors, great empires and Hollywood film companies all fell in love with her image, leading to numerous paintings of Cleopatra. Today, we will investigate these Cleopatra artworks to try and see if we can figure out what makes her so seductive to everyone who hears about her.

Her job, like that of every Egyptian pharaoh, required her to be a skilled tactician and ruler.

Oldest painting of cleopatra

In addition to that, history recalls her as a polymath and intellectually adept, having studied a wide range of disciplines, including medicine. Throughout history, surviving evidence regarding the queen has been widely contested, revealing in part why her appearance is so controversial. Her complicated story was left in the hands of her conquerors, the Romans, such that her renown as a meticulous and crafty diplomat was gradually supplanted by simplistic depictions of her as a treacherous goddess.

Popular representations of Cleopatra in great works of art and literature have focused on indulging our imaginations with outrageous tales that, although indisputably amusing, are often recounted with little indication that they ever happened. European painters have been fascinated by the stories of Cleopatra and her two Roman lovers, Caesar and Mark Antony, for ages.

Cleopatra is frequently portrayed as tiny, incredibly pale-skinned, and even having blonde hair, with no longer having darker characteristics. Painters reimagined these two great historical figures to meet European notions of beauty.

Famous cleopatra painting

Cleopatra had another significant advantage: she was stunningly attractive. Modern leaders were afraid of Cleopatra, and subsequent painters were sometimes unable to represent her. European artists depicted the tale that audiences desired to see: the elegance, the drama, the smoke, and mirrors. Here are some of the most famous paintings of Cleopatra.