Cleopatra, renowned for her beauty, intellect, and captivating charm, ensnared Julius Caesar and later Marc Antony, challenging the might of Rome. Defeated and alone, the Queen of Egypt chose death over enslavement. A serpent served as the instrument of her choice. Seventeenth-century painter Guido Cagnacci, internationally acclaimed, portrays her as a modern woman, adorned with long golden hair and a crimson velvet gown. More akin to a saint or a poem’s heroine, the Queen of Egypt gazes heavenward, a pose favored by numerous artists, from Raphael to Guido Reni.
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