Our engraving of ‘Cleopatra and Caesar’ is after Gerome’s famous picture. The scene or interview is supposed to have taken place about fifty years B.C., in on of the old palaces of the Ptolemies, in Alexandria, in Egypt, where Caesar was then holding court as a conqueror, or perhaps as an arbitrator, as Cleopatra was at that time waging war against her brother Ptolemy Dionysius, a boy of fifteen who was her nominal husband. Caesar was just before received the shocking gift of Pompey’s head, when a courier arrives with a tribute from the Egyptian queen. The messenger is a swarthy Sicilian, Apollodorus by name, Cleopatra’s master of the household, who bears in his arms a roll of Oriental Tapestry. This he unrolls as he enters the presence of Caesar, and kneeling, and with a sweep of his muscular arm, the tapestry is thrown aside, and the lovely enchantress is brought face to face with the at once conquered Caesar.

The queen stands in an attitude of easy grace, with her left hand lightly resting upon the shoulder of her menial, while Caesar, his eyes bent on the beautiful vision, raises his hand in astonishment.  In the background are four secretaries, and above their heads may be seen the richly-frescoed walls and columns of the palace, painted with divinities and fabled mysteries. The ornaments worn upon the queen’s person are as singular as her introduction into the presence of Caesar. Around her shoulders is a jeweled collar, and under her armpits a golden circlet supported by braces; while at the waist there is broad band, jeweled like the collar, to which is attached the gauzy texture which covers, but scarcely conceals, the lower part of her person. The subject is well composed and is attractive, in spite of the wanton display of the Egyptian queen. Gerome, however, has invested his heroine with an unconscious expression of refinement, which veils in a measure the intense realism of her nakedness, and renders it subservient to Art. In the original picture, which is now owned by Mr. D. O Mills, of San Francisco, the foreground figures of Cleopatra and her menial are about one-half life-size. Gerome, like Picou, whose later picture of ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ represents the Egyptian queen sailing in her barge on the Cydnus naked, takes an unauthorized view of history in his illustration of the scene. Plutarch says that Cleopatra went in the “dress and character of Venus;” but there is nothing in history to show that she was in the habit of displaying her charms with the freedom here depicted.

This item is a steel engraving from the original painting by Jean Leon Gerome called “CLEOPATRA AND CAESAR.”  It was engraved by J.C. Armytage and published in 1877.  The engraving is in very good condition.  The engraving measures 10 ½” x 7 1/8”, and is matted to 11” x 14” for easy framing.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE

Antique prints, etchings, engravings, and lithographs are printing processes which use steel, copper, stone or wood blocks or plates to produce a picture on paper.

Most antique prints and engravings, which are seen on the internet today, are bookplates.  Because they are pages from a book, there are multiple copies in existence.  This does not, however, mean that they are "reproductions" that have been printed recently.  Because they were, at some point, part of books, some have been preserved in excellent condition, while others show signs of age, as yellow spots or darkness on the edge of the page from being handled.

Engravings, lithographs, are high quality pieces of art, as it took a highly trained artist many hours of work to produce one.  Although there may be multiple copies still in existence, the date of the item should be stated in the auction, thus giving the buyer an idea of it's age.