Cleopatra
Date1862-1866
Artist
Frederick Sandys
(English painter, illustrator, and draftsman, 1829–1904)
Artist
Joseph Swain
(British engraver, 1820–1909)
Illustration Citation"Cleopatra," by Algernon Charles Swinburne, in Cornhill Magazine, 1866, p. 331
MediumWood engraving
Dimensionscomposition: 6 7/8 × 4 1/4 in. (17.5 × 10.8 cm)
sheet: 7 1/4 × 4 1/2 in. (18.4 × 11.4 cm)
sheet: 7 1/4 × 4 1/2 in. (18.4 × 11.4 cm)
Credit LineSamuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial, 1935
Object number1935-143
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPRINT
Label TextThis “illustration” is unusual in that the image preceded the text. The poet, Algernon Swinburne, wrote the poem after viewing Sandys’ design. The poem and illustration appeared together in Cornhill Magazine in 1866. The subject is the moment when Cleopatra prepares a banquet for Caesar, Anthony, and Pompey, adding a pearl to the liquor so that “My draught to Anthony shall exceed in value the whole banquet.”
