Cleopatra by John William Waterhouse - 1888 - 65 x 57 cm private collection Cleopatra by John William Waterhouse - 1888 - 65 x 57 cm private collection

Cleopatra

oil on canvas • 65 x 57 cm
  • John William Waterhouse - April 6, 1849 - February 10, 1917 John William Waterhouse 1888

Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last person to rule Egypt as an Egyptian pharaoh. After she died, Egypt became a Roman province. Following the death of her lover, Mark Antony, she committed suicide very dramatically - by the venom of a poisonous snake bite. Though her heritage was Greek, Cleopatra represented herself as the reincarnation of the Egyptian goddess, Isis. She had very twisted life; she married to her two brothers - the first marriage was arranged when she was 17 and her husband/brother was 10, the second ended up with her brother's murder commissioned by Cleopatra herself. She also famously had a son with Julius Caesar and three more children with Mark Antony. Her suicide is a very popular art theme in arts.