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Secondary sourcePainting1777

The Death of Cleopatra, engraving after Guido Reni

After Guido Reni · 1777

An 18th-century engraving based on a Baroque painting, imagining Cleopatra's death by snakebite.

This engraving imagines Cleopatra's death scene, part of a long tradition of artists depicting her final moments.

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Black and white engraving of a nude woman standing in front of draped curtains, head tilted back, holding a small snake to her breast. A carved ornate pedestal with a cherub figure is beside her on a tiled floor.
Engraving after Guido Reni, The Death of Cleopatra, 1777. Library of Congress.

About this source

What it is

This is a black-and-white engraving made in 1777, copied from a painting by the Baroque artist Guido Reni. It shows a full-length figure of Cleopatra, leaning back and holding a small snake to her breast, standing beside an ornate pedestal. It is held by the Library of Congress.

Why it matters

Cleopatra's death became one of the most popular subjects in European art for centuries after her lifetime. This print shows how artists like Reni, and the engraver who copied his work, imagined her final moment long after she actually lived. It reveals more about 18th-century ideas of tragedy and beauty than about the real queen.

Look closer

  • What does the pose and setting suggest the artist wanted viewers to feel?
  • Why do you think artists kept returning to this one moment in Cleopatra's life?
  • What does this image leave out about who Cleopatra actually was as a ruler?

This painting 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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Baths of Cleopatra, at Alexandria

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Portrait of Cleopatra (Berlin Bust)

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