For anyone travelling to Venice soon, the Galleria di Palazzo Cini in Venice is hosting the fascinating painting Cleopatra by Artemisia Gentileschi until 16 July 2023, as part of the 'L'Ospite a Palazzo' ('Guest in the Palace') initiative.
See also: Artemisia Gentileschi: Passionate Feminist Artist
This majestic work, painted between 1620 and 1626, comes from the Cavallini Sgarbi Collection and depicts Cleopatra with her right arm stretched forward about to be bitten by a snake. The Egyptian queen, whose face is thought by some to recall the artist's own likeness, is seated on a red drape that contrasts the brightness of her skin and the dark shadow of her exposed stomach. The portrait evokes a combination of pain, heroism and irrepressible erotic charge – recalling the well-known theme of Eros and Thanatos ('desire and death').
See also: Artemisia Gentileschi: 5 Extraordinary Facts
The exhibition of this painting offers visitors the opportunity to reflect on the role of Artemisia Gentileschi in the cultural and art-historical context of Venice. The painter stayed in the city between 1626 and 1630, a time documented by letters and poems dedicated to her by Venetian authors. In the lagoon city, she was particularly linked to the Accademia degli Incogniti, an important circle of noblemen, authors and intellectuals in 17th-century Italy.
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Choosing death over public humiliation, Cleopatra embodies ultimate heroism. The partial nudity serves as a manifesto of the freedom of the female body, making this Artemisia Gentileschi exquisitely modern. With its powerful naturalism, the work also points out Caravaggio's influence on Gentileschi's style.
