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| | Old Master Paintings & Drawings IV |
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| Cleopatra Oil on canvas 37 x 29 inches (99.7 x 75.6 cm) | |
Already painting professionally at the age of seventeen, Elisabetta Sirani likely received her training from her father, Giovanni Andrea Sirani, who had served as a principal assistant to Guido Reni and managed to raise all three of his daughters to be practicing artists. Elisabetta's promising talent, as well as her reputed beauty and modesty not only earned her increasing recognition, but also helped secure her a number of important commissions by prominent patrons including Grand Duke Cosimo III de' Medici. A popular subject among aristocratic patrons, the present painting shows Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, holding a pearl between her finger and thumb, poised over a drinking vase. The legend of the story recounts that Cleopatra, in response to Antony's display of wonderment toward a lavish banquet she gave in his honor, removed a priceless pearl and dissolved it in a glass of wine which she then drank, demonstrating her apparent indifference to riches. The composition was apparently a popular one, for two other examples by the artist are known (Bologna, Private Collection and London, Art Market). | ||