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Secondary sourceSculpture1875

The Death of Cleopatra

Edmonia Lewis · 1875

A marble sculpture by Edmonia Lewis depicting Cleopatra immediately after her death by snakebite, made in 1875.

This sculpture reflects a 19th-century African-American and Native American artist's reclaiming of Cleopatra as a dignified figure.

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White marble sculpture of a seated woman in Egyptian-style headdress and draped robe, head tilted back, eyes closed, reclining on a throne with sphinx-head armrests and carved back panel. Inscription on the plinth.
Edmonia Lewis, The Death of Cleopatra, 1875. Smithsonian American Art Museum.

About this source

What it is

This marble sculpture was created in 1875 by Edmonia Lewis, an African-American and Native American artist, and was first shown at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. It is now in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. It shows Cleopatra already dead from the bite of an asp, rather than still alive and contemplating her death as most earlier artworks had shown her.

Why it matters

Lewis broke with tradition by depicting Cleopatra realistically dead and in disarray instead of as an idealized, composed queen. As a woman of African-American and Native American descent working in a time of limited opportunity for artists like her, Lewis's choice to sculpt Cleopatra with dignity carried extra meaning.

Look closer

  • How does this sculpture differ from paintings that show Cleopatra alive and about to die?
  • Why might the artist's own identity and background have shaped her choice of this unusual, realistic pose?
  • What does the sculpture's long, complicated history after it was made tell us about how art and history can be lost and rediscovered?

This sculpture is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Cleopatra on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Hand-coloured aquatint titled Baths of Cleopatra, at Alexandria. A rocky coastal scene with a curved sandy inlet in the foreground, stone steps and a small arched doorway, a hill with ruined structures behind, and sailing boats on the sea. Figures in turbans and robes stand on the shore and sit in a rowboat.Painting

Secondary source

Baths of Cleopatra, at Alexandria

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Secondary source

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Primary source

Portrait of Cleopatra (Berlin Bust)

c. 40-30 BCE

Marble sculpture of a woman's head and upper neck, shown in three-quarter view on a black stand against a brick wall. The hair is pulled back under a band with a knot at the top and a braided bun at the back. The face is calm with straight brows, a long nose, and closed lips. The bust is cut off at the base.Sculpture

Primary source

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