Cleopatra Captured by Roman Soldiers after the Death of Mark Antony
1789
45 x 58 in. (114.3 x 147.3 cm)
Bernard Duvivier
France
(Bruges, Flanders, 1762 - 1837, Paris, France)
Object Type:
Painting
Medium and Support:
Oil on canvas
Credit Line:
Marion Stratton Gould Fund
Accession Number:
1984.40
Location: Currently on view
Duvivier received his initial training in Bruges and then moved to Paris, where he assimilated the severe Neoclassical style perfected by Jacques-Louis David. In this early work, Duvivier combined the poses of several antique statues to illustrate an episode recounted in Plutarch's "Life of Mark Anthony." Following Anthony's suicide, a Roman soldier attempts to forestall the Egyptian queen's own death by promising that Octavian Caesar will show her clemency. The subtle, glowing colors, precise attention to detail, and impeccable draughtsmanship presage the artist's occasional work as a miniaturist.
[Gallery label text, 2008]