Cleopatra

Since the resurgence of ancient art during the Renaissance, scenes from Roman history were depicted in addition to mythological themes. Nudes were particularly popular among the growing number of collectors of small sculptures, and Cleopatra’s suicide by means of a snakebite was a frequently recurring motif. Mosca used this scene to depict the appealing characteristics of the female sex. Thus it is not the snakebite that is the focus of attention, but the round curve of the hip, highlighted by Cleopatra shifting her weight onto the low column. It seems as though Cleopatra is calmly enduring the pain of the bite, merely hinted at in her upturned face. Cleopatra seems to pause in her pose, as though she were yearning for approaching death. There is not yet any evidence in this piece of the dynamism of the Mannerist form of expression, which particularly became apparent in the resurgence of ancient sculpture and went on to develop into exuberant Baroque in the following years. (Katja Storalow)