(Sant’Arcangelo di Romagna 1601–1663 Vienna)
The Death of Cleopatra,
dated lower right on the chair: 1661,
oil on canvas, 141.5 x 163.5 cm, unframed

Provenance:
Freiherr Karl von Schwarz (1817–1898), Salzburg;
Dr. Josef Novak (1872–1962), Salzburg;
Otto Hoffmann (1906–1978), 1958, Salzburg;
Private collection, Carinthia, since November 1963

The present composition relates to Cagnacci’s celebrated signed painting in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (see fig. 1), which the artist painted towards the end of his career during his time as a court painter in Vienna. The present version, dating from 1661, differs from the picture in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in several details, for example in the enlarged rendering of the attendants. The armrest, which in the painting at the Kunsthistorisches Museum bears the signature ‘GVIDO CAGNAZZI’, is inscribed with the date ‘1661’ in the present painting, which would suggest that it was executed under the master’s supervision and possibly with his participation.

Cleopatra, the last Queen of Egypt, killed herself through the bite of a poisonous snake to escape the disgrace of being led through Rome in a triumphal procession celebrating Augustus. Cagnacci dealt with the subject of Cleopatra’s death in other works such as the Cleopatra conserved in the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan (see P. G. Pasini, Guido Cagnacci, Rimini 1986, p. 282, no. 69, pl. XLVIII) and the Cleopatra in the Collezione Comunali d’Arte, Bologna (see D. Benati; A. Paolucci, Guido Cagnacci, exhibition catalogue, Milan 2008, p. 218, no. 44).

In the present composition, Cleopatra rests on a throne-like red-covered chair. She wears a blue dress and white undergarment pulled down to her waist. Her hair is tied-back and adorned with a small crown, and her ear is decorated with a pearl earring. Having administered its lethal bite, the snake winds around the arm of the queen. The emotions of the attendants surrounding her in this tragic moment range from what appears to be distanced observation to deeply felt grief. The drama of Cleopatra’s death, shown against the red of the chair, is juxtaposed with her staged body. This painting unites two concepts of painting: the precisely observed realism in the expressive depictions of the attendants and the classical pose of the seated queen. Elements of drama and deliverance set against a dark backdrop and theatrical foreground create a sense of tension that makes the present composition one of the most remarkable and celebrated interpretations of this subject.