Currently not on view
Cleopatra,
ca. 1520
attributed to Giacomo Francia, Italian, ca. 1486–1557
x1947-177
This finished drawing of the ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra (shown killing herself with a poisonous asp) can be firmly situated within the context of Giacomo Francia’s print production: the nude’s round, sculptural quality is also evident in the female figures represented in several of Francia’s engravings. Following Pope Julius II’s display of an ancient sculpture of Ariadne—which he mistook for Cleopatra and which was engraved by Giacomo’s colleague, Marcantonio Raimondi— Cleopatra became a popular subject for artists.
Information
Title
Cleopatra
Dates
ca. 1520
Maker
attributed to Giacomo Francia
Medium
Pen and brown ink on light tan laid paper
Dimensions
26.1 × 18.5 cm (10 1/4 × 7 5/16 in.)
frame: 54.6 × 41.9 × 3.2 cm (21 1/2 × 16 1/2 × 1 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Frank Jewett Mather Jr.
Object Number
x1947-177
Reference Numbers
Gibbons 219
Culture
Type
Materials
Subject
Handwritten note: L. Venturi suggested attribution.
- Exhibition of drawings by old masters from the private collection of Prof. Frank Jewett Mather: International Art Center of Roerich Museum: December 18th to 31st, 1930, (New York: Roerich Museum, 1930)., cat. no. 81
- Felton Gibbons, Catalogue of Italian Drawings in The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1977)., Vol. 1: p. 198, no. 637 (illustrated in Vol. 2 under the same catalog number)
- Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Cleopatra: histories, dreams and distortions, (New York: Harper & Row, 1990)., p. 152; pl. 9
- Babette Bohn, "The antique heroines of Elisabetta Sirani", Renaissance studies 16, no. 1 (Mar., 2002): p. 52-79., p. 71-72, fig. 5
- Laura Giles, Lia Markey, Claire Van Cleave, et. al., Italian Master Drawings from the Princeton University Art Museum, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2014)., p. 44, cat. no. 17; p. 45 (illus.); p. 46 (verso illus.); p. 257-258, app. no. 86; p. 258 (illus.)
