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What did
Cleopatra really look like?
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What did
Cleopatra really look like?
Portrait of Cleopatra
David A. Claerr
© 2007 David A. Claerr
Cleopatra is certainly one of the most
intriguing figures in the pageantry of earth's history, and an iconic
inspiration in works of art, literature and film for centuries. But can we
determine with a moderate degree of accuracy what she really looked like?
As a well documented and popular historical figure, there are numerous
sculptures and bas-reliefs from artists of Cleopatra's time, Egyptian, Greek and
Roman. The Egyptian sculptured portraits tend to be highly stylized. The
Greco-Roman sculptures are more representational and realistic with slight
variances of artistic style and idealization, but they are nonetheless clearly
depicting the same person. (link
to sculpture image)
As a consort of Julius Caesar, with whom she bore a son, she was honored as a
goddess. Caesar commissioned a gold statue of Cleopatra, which he had displayed
in the temple of Venus Genetrix in Rome.( There are possibly two marble copies
of this statue still in existence). After Caesar was assassinated, public
opinion turned against Cleopatra and many of her likenesses were removed or
destroyed.
But Cleopatra's involvement with the Roman political scene were not yet over.
She began a relationship with Marc Antony, Caesar's loyal friend and ally. In
the course of their lives together as de-facto husband and wife, they toured the
Mediterranean countries in times of peace. On one of their trips to Greece,
Antony commissioned a famous Greek painter, Timomachus, to paint her portrait.
The Greeks of the Classical era had developed a painting technique that was
incredibly durable, with a smooth, polished finish and colors that were highly
resistant to fading. The technique, called encaustic (from the Greek for
"heated") involved the combination of tree-resins and beeswax in a heated
mixture. Ground mineral pigments were added to the mixture. The colors were
applied to a moderately heated slab of smoothly finished grey slate rock with a
brass spatula. It took great skill to apply the colors and probably required
several assistants in a specially designed workshop to produce the works of art.
For this reason, there were relatively few artists working in encaustic, and
only the wealthiest could afford a painting of this type. (There was also
another type of painting involving heated wax that was considerably easier.) The
final piece was cooled and then given a glossy, melded surface by passing a
red-hot iron bar or a brazier of glowing charcoal over the surface.
After Julius Caesar's death, a power struggle ensued in Rome. In time, a
conflict developed between the armies of Octavian, the nephew of Julius Caesar,
and the Egyptian forces led by Marc Antony and Cleopatra. Octavian eventually
triumphed over Antony and Cleopatra. After a decisive defeat, Antony
committed suicide after he was informed, incorrectly, that Cleopatra had been
killed. Cleopatra rushed to him and he died in her arms. Octavian, who later
took the title of Caesar Augustus, marched into the city of Alexandria and
captured Cleopatra and put her under house arrest with guards watching her
closely.
After funeral rites for Marc Antony, Cleopatra devised a plan to follow him in
death. She arranged for a servant to bring a basket of figs, in which a deadly
poisonous serpent was hidden. After arraying herself in her finest garments and
royal jewels, she calmly ate the figs until the fatal bite of the serpent. She
then reclined on her ornate couch, her faithful servant adjusting her crown and
necklace before she herself expired. Cleopatra thus avoided the humiliation of
being marched through the streets of Rome in chains as part of Octavian's
victory parade, as was the Roman tradition.
Octavian was livid, having been tricked and losing the opportunity to display
Cleopatra to Rome. He later had an idea: he would commission Timomachus, the
same artist that painted Cleopatra for Antony, to paint a portrait of Cleopatra
at the moment of her death. The finished portrait, in the encaustic technique,
was mounted on a cart that was drawn slowly along the route of the victory
parade. It caused a sensation and was viewed by thousands. Later, Octavian had
it placed in the Temple of Venus Genetrix as an offering where it was kept on
public display for many years. A century later, the Emperor Hadrian acquired it
for his extensive art collection that was housed at his villa in Tivoli, outside
of Rome.
The painting, at some time after Hadrian death, was place in a wooden crate and
hidden in a cellar at Hadrian's Villa. It lay hidden and forgotten until 1818
when it was re-discovered in a lot of scrap lumber. The painting, broken into 14
pieces, was painstakingly reassembled. ( For a detailed article on the painting,
please click this link)
The image accompanying this article was created by 3D computer modeling
techniques combined with digital illustration. The image is based on the
Greco-Roman sculptures of Cleopatra, antique engravings of Octavian's Portrait
of Cleopatra, and detailed eye-witness descriptions from writers, artists and
reporters who viewed the painting when it toured Europe in the 19th century.
For many readers, it is a surprising fact that Cleopatra was not of Egyptian
descent. She was actually ethnically Macedonian, as were the twelve generations
of rulers before her. The royal lineage of Cleopatra's forebears was established
by Ptolemy, a Macedonian General under Alexander the Great. (He was also
Alexander's boyhood friend.) Ptolemy was given charge of Egypt after Alexander
conquered it, and was instrumental in the foundation of the city of Alexandria,
which was made the new capitol of Egypt. Ptolemy ousted members of the ancient
lineage of Egyptian Pharaohs and founded his own ruling class, which was
comprised mainly of Macedonian and Greek colonists.
Cleopatra, as depicted in Octvavian's portrait, is shown to have dark blonde or
auburn-tinted hair and deep blue eyes. Alexander the Great also had blonde hair
and blue eyes, as do many Macedonians to this day. (Macedonia is to the north of
the Grecian coast, and Alexander conquered the people of the Greek city-states
that were ethnically quite different than those of his Macedonian homeland.
Macedonia at the time had a distinct culture and language- they were considered
by coastal Greeks as outsiders.) The stories of Cleopatra's cosmetic recipes and
beauty regimens to maintain her fair complexion, abundant, lustrous hair, and
shapely figure are borne out by this portrait. (The unflattering coins minted
during her reign were most likely clumsily reworked images of her father Ptolmey
XII, and previous rulers.) Accounts by Appian and Dio Cassius attest to her
beauty.
There are many original and intriguing elements in Cleopatra's arraignments that
attest to the portrait's authenticity. The crown she wears is in the style of
the ancient Macedonians. It is inlaid with emeralds and rubies and has fine
pearls between the points of the gold crown. The diadem on her forehead, the
pendant earrings, and the necklace all match the style and design of the crown.
The diadem is suspended by a fine gold chain that surrounds her head. The
earrings are inlaid with rubies and surrounded by pearls. The necklace is
particularly interesting in that the individual segments appear to be
Egyptian-style cartouches, which are oblong shapes in which hieroglyphics are
embossed. Jewels also are inlaid in the cartouches as part of the design, which
is highly unusual. Pearl are mounted on the edges of the cartouches, in the same
manner as those on the earrings and diadem.
Cleopatra wears an armband, also inlaid with emeralds and rubies, which has
large pearls suspended from chains of gold. (A nearly identical armband was
discovered by Heinrich Shlielmann during his excavation of Troy, many years
after the encaustic painting was found.) Bracelets of twisted gold adorn her
wrist.
The hairstyle of Cleopatra has several remarkable elements. The hair, which is
arranged in very elaborate braids and decorative knots, is obviously very long,
as if it had seldom if ever been cut. The hair texture is of the type that grows
in spiraling coils. A unique feature of the styling was that gold dust was
sprinkled on the braids and even on Cleopatra's eyebrows! The ends of the very
long braids encircle her neck and end in a twined knot into which are inserted
three fresh roses that match the color of her fine tunic of silk. The tunic
itself has notable elements - the fastening at the shoulders by the tying iof
stylish rosette bows and the apparent lack of seams or stitching. The tunic is
designed in the Greco-Roman style of the era.
Cleopatra was remarkable for more than her looks. Even the Roman orator, Cicero,
who disliked her intensely for having been snubbed by her at a dinner reception,
grudgingly admitted that she was very intelligent and pointed out that could
speak nine languages, including Egyptian, which no ruling Ptolemy had before
her. He even mentioned that fact that Cleopatra had the desire to establish a
harmonious relationship between the ruling classes and subjects of the Roman
Empire. Some regarded Cleopatra as being not necessarily the most beautiful
woman of the age, but a pretty and very engaging conversationalist with a
melodious voice and a charming, persuasive manner. Remember that both Julius
Caesar and Marc Antony, two of the most powerful men of the era, were enamored
of Cleopatra to the point where they risked the disapproval of the citizens of
Rome to continue in their relationships with her, since they were both married
men.
Resources:
Online Image:
(1) https://oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/user/leach/www/2003/cleopatra.jpg
(Cleopatra VII from the Antiken Museum of Berlin)
Print Media:
Illustrations:
"Cleopatra -engraving in steel after the Encaustic Painting of Sorrento" . John
Sartain (c.1880) illustration for "On the Antique Painting in Encaustic or
Cleopatra discovered in 1818" by John Sartain, Cosimo Ridolfi & Reinhold Shoener
"Cleopatra" John Shury (c.1826) engraving in "The Saturday Magazine" Vol. V,
London 1841
Books and Articles:
"On the Antique Painting in Encaustic of Cleopatra Discovered in 1818" by John
Sartain, Cosimo Ridolfi & Reinhold Shoener
{Publisher: George Gebbie & Co. Philadelphia 1885}
"London Magazine" May 1 1826. Article by John Scott, John Taylor . Illustration
by John Shury
"The New York Times", August 21, 1881
"The Saturday Magazine" Vol. V London 1841
"Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities" edited William Smith (1870).
"Plutarch's Parallel Lives" (1916) translated by B. Perrin
Dio Cassius: Roman History" (1916) translated by Earnest Cary and Herbert B.
Foster (Loeb Classical Library)
"Appian: The Civil Wars" (1996) translated by John Carter (Penguin Classics)
All images on this website © 2007 David A. Claerr
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