Cleopatra and Antony Enjoying Supper from The Story of Caesar and Cleopatra
Workshop of Gerard Peemans
1670–1690
- Medium
- Wool and silk, slit and double interlocking tapestry weave Warp: Count: 9 warps per cm; wool: S-ply of four Z-spun elements; diameters: 0.8–1.1 mm Weft: Count: varies from 18 to 46 wefts per cm; wool: S-ply of two Z-spun elements; diameters: 0.3–0.8 mm; silk: pairs of S-ply of two Z-twisted elements; diameters: 0.6–1.0 mm
- Dimensions
- 321.9 × 362 cm (126 3/4 × 142 5/8 in.)
- Genre
- weaving - tapestry
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago
Tags
wool (textile)silk (fiber)slit tapestry weavingdinnerscleopatradrumsTableflowerstorcheseatingmanwomenmusical instrumentsweaving - tapestrycurtainstapestrycherubsfoodtreestapestry weavingTextileweavinggarlands
About
To impress Antony, Cleopatra promised to organize the most lavish supper he had ever attended. The meal itself was ordinary, but at its end, Cleopatra dissolved a pearl in a cup of vinegar and drank it. This event was not recorded by Plutarch; it derives from Pliny’s Natural History (1st century A.D.).
