The Death of Cleopatra, Guido Cagnacci

The Death of Cleopatra, Guido Cagnacci

Beginning in the Renaissance period, the world of literature and art rejected the Christian perception of suicide as being a reprehensible act and oriented itself on those trends of classical philosophy that celebrated suicide, in certain cases, as a logical and courageous act. Starting in the 16th century, heroines beca me a popular subject of paintings and were sometimes joined together in a series of so-called donne famose (famous, heroic women).

In this painting of Cleopatra, the last of this subject in his oeuvre, he combines two conflicting artistic trends: the realistic and expressive gestures and facial expressions of the servants, some in touching grief, some in agitated observation, have been influenced by Caravaggio’s successors and juxtaposed to the classical posture of the dying Cleopatra, adopted from Guido Reni and Correggio. Equally charged with tension is the contrast between the monochromatic background and the open display of the gently lit female nudes.