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Simon de Mailly (de Châlons), 'Cleopatra', possibly 1540s

About the work

Overview

A naked woman reclines on a luxurious bed, a small pink snake wriggling through her fingers. This is Cleopatra, the last Ptolemaic queen of Egypt, encouraging an asp to bite and poison her – according to some accounts, the cause of her death. Famous for her beauty and her love affairs with the Roman generals Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, she died in 30 BC after the defeat of her and Mark Antony’s forces by Octavian, the future Roman emperor.

Working out who made this painting is made difficult by the fact that the artist was a poor draughtsman and an incompetent painter, but seems to have been copying the work of a more skilful and imaginative artist. There is a strong stylistic resemblance between this painting and pictures by Simon de Mailly, who is known for creating pastiches based on paintings by better artists. The original composition may have been devised by one of Raphael’s assistants.

Key facts

Details

Full title
Cleopatra
Artist dates
active 1532; died 1561/2
Date made
possibly 1540s
Medium and support
oil on wood
Dimensions
46 × 45.7 cm
Acquisition credit
Bequeathed by Maurice Woolff Jacobson, 1943; entered the collection, 1947
Inventory number
NG5762
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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