The Death of Cleopatra
{"id": "ld1-1643381040022-1643381060895-0", "version": "", "unitCode": "SAAM", "linkedId": "", "type": "edanmdm", "content": {"descriptiveNonRepeating": {"record_ID": "saam_1994.17", "online_media": {"mediaCount": 1, "media": [{"thumbnail": "https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?id=SAAM-1994.17_1", "idsId": "SAAM-1994.17_1", "usage": {"access": "CC0"}, "guid": "http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bj92704933b-2cdf-4f67-b28e-ddcae74303bc", "type": "Images", "content": "https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?id=SAAM-1994.17_1", "resources": [{"label": "High-resolution TIFF", "url": "https://ids.si.edu/ids/download?id=SAAM-1994.17_1.tif", "width": 2250, "height": 3000}, {"width": 2250, "height": 3000, "label": "High-resolution JPEG", "url": "https://ids.si.edu/ids/download?id=SAAM-1994.17_1.jpg", "dimensions": "2250x3000"}, {"label": "Screen Image", "url": "https://ids.si.edu/ids/download?id=SAAM-1994.17_1_screen"}, {"label": "Thumbnail Image", "url": "https://ids.si.edu/ids/download?id=SAAM-1994.17_1_thumb"}]}]}, "unit_code": "SAAM", "title_sort": "THE DEATH OF CLEOPATRA", "guid": "http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7c940ae99-f92a-455c-bfe5-5b5f09e4864b", "record_link": "https://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=33878", "title": {"label": "Title", "content": "The Death of Cleopatra"}, "metadata_usage": {"access": "CC0"}, "data_source": "Smithsonian American Art Museum"}, "indexedStructured": {"date": ["1870s"], "exhibition": [{"building": "SAAM"}], "object_type": ["Sculpture"], "culture": ["Egyptians"], "name": ["Cleopatra", "Lewis, Edmonia"], "onPhysicalExhibit": ["Yes"], "topic": ["Women", "Reptile", "Animals", "Figure female", "State of being", "Portraits", "Death", "Suicide", "History", "Snakes"], "usage_flag": ["permcoll"], "online_media_type": ["Images"]}, "freetext": {"setName": [{"label": "See more items in", "content": "Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection"}, {"label": "Department", "content": "Painting and Sculpture"}, {"label": "On View", "content": "Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor, W310"}, {"label": "On View", "content": "Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center"}, {"label": "On View", "content": "Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor"}], "date": [{"label": "Date", "content": "carved 1876"}], "identifier": [{"label": "Object number", "content": "1994.17"}], "notes": [{"label": "Luce Center Label", "content": "Cleopatra (69 - 30 BCE), the legendary queen of Egypt from 51 to 30 BCE, is often best known for her dramatic suicide, allegedly from the fatal bite of a venomous snake. Here, Edmonia Lewis portrayed Cleopatra in the moment after her death, wearing her royal attire, in majestic repose on a throne. The identical sphinx heads flanking the throne represent the twins she bore with Roman general Marc Antony, while the hieroglyphics on the side have no meaning. Lewis was working at a time when Neoclassicism was a popular artistic style that favored classical, Biblical, or literary themes\u00e2\u0080\u0094thus Cleopatra was a common subject. Unlike her contemporaries who often depicted an idealized Cleopatra merely contemplating suicide, Lewis showed the queen\u00e2\u0080\u0099s death more realistically, after the asp\u00e2\u0080\u0099s venom had taken hold\u00e2\u0080\u0094an attribute viewed as \u00e2\u0080\u009cghastly\u00e2\u0080\u009d and \u00e2\u0080\u009cabsolutely repellant\u00e2\u0080\u009d in its day (William J. Clark, Great American Sculpture, 1878). Despite this, the piece was first exhibited to great acclaim at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876 and critics raved that it was the most impressive American sculpture in the show. Not long after its debut, however, Death of Cleopatra was presumed lost for almost a century\u00e2\u0080\u0094appearing at a Chicago saloon, marking a horse\u00e2\u0080\u0099s grave at a suburban racetrack, and eventually reappearing at a salvage yard in the 1980s. The Museum has an online exhibit that documents the statue\u00e2\u0080\u0099s storied history and conservation."}], "creditLine": [{"label": "Credit Line", "content": "Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Historical Society of Forest Park, Illinois"}], "name": [{"label": "Artist", "content": "Edmonia Lewis, born Greenbush (now Rensselaer), NY 1844-died London, England 1907"}, {"label": "Sitter", "content": "Cleopatra"}], "topic": [{"label": "Topic", "content": "Figure female\\full length"}, {"label": "Topic", "content": "Animal\\reptile\\snake"}, {"label": "Topic", "content": "Egyptian"}, {"label": "Topic", "content": "Portrait female"}, {"label": "Topic", "content": "State of being\\death\\suicide"}, {"label": "Topic", "content": "History\\ancient\\Egypt"}], "physicalDescription": [{"label": "Medium", "content": "marble"}, {"label": "Dimensions", "content": "63 x 31 1/4 x 46 in. (160.0 x 79.4 x 116.8 cm.)"}], "dataSource": [{"label": "Data Source", "content": "Smithsonian American Art Museum"}], "objectRights": [{"label": "Restrictions & Rights", "content": "CC0"}], "objectType": [{"label": "Type", "content": "Sculpture"}]}}, "url": "edanmdm:saam_1994.17", "hash": "986a7ae6bbe84a5e2d0118989db26d3ad60857cd", "docSignature": "5184049abdfb98917a3e03d2b394e813", "timestamp": 1666664282, "lastTimeUpdated": 1653679533, "title": "The Death of Cleopatra"}