ID: 700008176 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700008176	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1

The Death of Cleopatra (oil painting (visual work); Gerard Hoet (Dutch painter and draftsman, 1648 - 1733); about 1700 - 1710; J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles, Los A...; 2009.24)

Note: Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, partially clad in an opulent blue and gold embroidered gown, sprawls across a sumptuous bed at the center of a splendid interior decorated with reliefs and marble statues. She has expired from the poisonous bite of an asp hidden in a basket of figs, thus thwarting Caesar's plans for her. Her attendant Iras lies dead in the foreground. Another maid, Charmion, makes final adjustments to her diadem before dying herself from the bite of the snake. The soldiers sent by Caesar to confirm Cleopatra's suicide surround the bed, while numerous palace officials, serving women and others rush into the room, their stricken faces and animated gestures conveying their agitation. Hoet closely followed Plutarch's account in "Antony'" (The Lives of Noble Grecians and Romans, 44:83) and portrayed the dramatic verbal exchange between Charmion and Caesar's messengers immediately following Cleopatra's death. In response to their angry demand "Was this well done of your lady Charmion?," she turned and replied "extremely well, and as became the descendant of so many kings," thereby characterizing her mistress' death as noble self-sacrifice before collapsing herself. Hoet included the tomb of Cleopatra's lover, the Roman soldier and politician Mark Anthony (described in the preceding passage of the Lives as crowned with floral garlands and kisses by the grieving Cleopatra), in the chamber.Hoet painted several versions of the Death of Cleopatra, and often painted pairs of related scenes. The Death of Cleopatra is the pendant to the Museum's The Banquet of Cleopatra. In that scene derived from a legendary tale rather than history, Cleopatra prepares to dissolve a giant pearl in her goblet of wine in a wager with Mark Anthony over who could host the most expensive repast, thereby demonstrating her indifference to wealth. A number of features link the two paintings and support the strong likelihood that they are pendants. In both works, Cleopatra wears the same magnificent brocade gown, jeweled girdle and crown. Both scenes are set in similar enclosed interiors decorated with relief panels and a red and gray marble floor, in which the primary scenes are positioned in the lower register with a balustrade level above. The canvases are the same size, and the stretchers are similar French late eighteenth-century types, suggesting that they were together in a French collection after 1750. Hoet's delicate brushwork and jewel-like palette enlivened with refined changeant hues are comparable in both works, while the subjects present complimentary scenes of festive and tragic spectacle.

Titles:

The Death of Cleopatra (preferred,C,U,RP,English-P,U,U)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

oil painting (visual work) [300033799] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>, paintings (visual works), <paintings by material or technique>)

Classifications:

paintings (preferred)

Creation Date: about 1700 - 1710

Creator Display:

Gerard Hoet (Dutch painter and draftsman, 1648 - 1733) [preferred,JPGM]

painter Hoet, Gerard (Dutch painter, draftsman, 1648-1733) [500024733]

Locations:

Current: J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles, Los Angeles county, California, United States) [500329598] J. Paul Getty Museum, J. Paul Getty Trust, Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: 2009.24

Other: Creation: Nederland [7016845] Europe (continent), World (facet) (Geographic)

Display Materials: Oil on canvas

	oil paint (paint) [300015050]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>, paint (coating), <paint by composition or origin>)

	canvas (textile material) [300014078]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by form>, <materials by physical form>, <fiber and fiber by product>, <fiber by product>, textile materials, <textile materials by process or technique>)

Dimensions: Unframed: 57.8 x 69.5 cm (22 3/4 x 27 3/8 in.); Framed [outer dim]: 70.5 x 81.9 x 6.4 cm (27 3/4 x 32 1/4 x 2 1/2 in.)

Cultures:

Dutch (preferred)

General Subject:

history and legend (preferred)

Specific Subjects:

	Cleopatra (Egyptian monarch, -30 BCE) [500341470]
	.....(Non-Artists) (ULAN)

	Charmion (Ancient Egyptian, 1st century BCE) [500357035]
	.....(Non-Artists) (ULAN)

	death [300151836]
	.....(Activities Facet, Events (hierarchy name), events (activities), personal life events) (AAT)

	soldiers [300185678]
	.....(Agents Facet, People (hierarchy name), people (agents), <people by occupation>, <people in military occupations>) (AAT)

	Iras [901000803]
	.....((Literary characters, Literature and Performing Arts)) (ICON)

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: drawings, paintings, prints, other two-dimensional media

Sources and Contributors:
The Death of Cleopatra	........ [JPGM,VP]
	........ J. Paul Getty Museum database for collections (2000-)

Subject: ....... [JPGM,VP]

Note:
English	..... [JPGM]
	..... J. Paul Getty Museum database for collections (2000-)