Banquet of Anthony and Cleopatra, Jan Steen (1673)
The story of Antony and Cleopatra was seen in the seventeenth century mainly as a cautionary tale, a warning against unnecessary extravagance. But another interpretation—and presumably the one Jan Steen sought to emphasize—is that of a powerful man (Mark Antony) who is led by a woman’s sultry gaze to neglect his soldierly duties.
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