Queen Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt (69-30 BC)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
circa 1731
Materials
Stone
Collection
Stowe, Buckinghamshire
NT 91824.1
Summary
Stone sculpture, Queen Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt (69-30 BC). A portrait bust of Cleopatra, circa 1731. This is a modern copy of the original bust, which is now at Petworth House. Cleopatra is emblematic of debauchery.
Full description
Cleopatra is one of four busts originally located on the exterior of the Temple of Venus and sold in 1848. [1] An anonymous visitor to Stowe in 1738 describes these as: 'On each side of the Entrance into the Temple are Antique Bustos in Marble of Cleopatra, and Nero, Faustina and Vespasian.’
Provenance
Original bust sold in 1848 and listed in ''The Stowe Catalogue' page 271. The Temple of Venus lot 120 'A pair of female marble busts' & lot 121 'A bust of Faustina; and the companion'.
References
Clarke 1990: George B. Clarke, Descriptions of Lord Cobham’s Gardens at Stowe (1700-1750), no. 26. Buckinghamshire Record Society, Dorchester 1990, Page 69 A Description of the Gardens of Lord, Viscount Cobham, At Stow in Buckinghamshire, MDCCXLIV (1744), Pages 2-3