Bust of Cleopatra

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This is a marble bust of Cleopatra, the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. She co-reigned with her brother and later her son. Aristide Petrilli studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence and exhibited at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900. Like many sculptors of his century, Petrilli specialised in marble busts and female nudes, as well as funerary monuments. This gripping portrayal of the powerful empress Cleopatra shows her in the moment leading up to her death. According to the famous story, Cleopatra poisoned herself with a venomous asp, which she clutches here in her right hand. Her brow is creased dramatically as she contemplates the fatal act.