Monday, June 9, 2008

Death Of Cleopatra

Cleopatra was the Queen of Egypt in her time. After a Life of hardship she committed suicide. In 1876, Edmonia Lewis sculpted a portrait of her death. The sculpture is now in Smithsonian American Art Museum. In the podcast I listened to it talked about how she was nervous about the unveiling of the sculpture. Once it was unveiled it immediately started contraversey. It was called horrendous for its showing of a women's death. In the time of peace and patriotism no one wanted to think about death or confront issues of suffering.
It stands 63 x 31 1/4 x 46 in. (160.0 x 79.4 x 116.8 cm.). It weight 3,015 pounds.Which is a pretty good size. The sculpture is amazingly good. It shows her arm swinging of the chair and the other hand holding the asp. When I look at it it reminds me of the old times when they used swords and bows. Like the Roman empire Era, that was a time that I wished I lived in. That time was the best time for art and learning. That's the time where the Renaissance started. Plus I am really into Egyptian art and history so this just attracts me on another level.

1 comment:

dd adams said...

these sculptures and works of art that "make you think of the old times" are generally called classical.

lots of wealth = lots of leisure = a renaissance in the arts as you pointed out ... have we witnessed a similar phenomena in our time?

you write well and are insightful if you take your time to write quality posts. your work reflects you so make sure it does so well.