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Title
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De Cleopatra regina egiption
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Description
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This engraving depicts two separate scenes. The left side of the engraving depicts queen Cleopatra of Egypt sitting at a dinner table, with her husband Antony beside her. Cleopatra had very expensive tastes and demanded a feast which would cost an outrageous amount of money. When Antony did not provide the entire feast Cleopatra demanded, she took out one of her pearl earrings and dissolved it in her drink and drank it to get the luxuriousness she desired. Cleopatra is depicted drinking the pearl in this image. The names Cleopatra and Antony (written as Antonius) are engraved at the bottom of the image to identify them. There is a third figure in this scene, which is a man named Lucius Plautus who was called to be a judge of the feast. The right side of the engraving depicts the suicide of Antony. After realizing the forces of Octavian were on their way to destroy them, Antony plunged his sword into his chest, as depicted in the engraving. Cleopatra is depicted kneeling over his body before she kills herself as well.
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Image Creator
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Anonymous (Engraver)
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Identifier
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mta:16695
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Source Name
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De Claris Mulieribus
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Image
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mta_16695_OBJ.jpg
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Subject
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Famous Women
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Important Queens
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Cleopatra VII
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Antony
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Octavian
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Greed
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Pearl Earrings
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Important Women
mta_16695_OBJ.jpg