After a design by Justus van Egmont (1601–1674)
Woven at the workshop of Gerard Peemans (1637/39–1725)
Flanders, Brussels
Cleopatra and Antony Enjoying Supper, from The Story of Caesar and Cleopatra, c. 1680
Wool and silk, slit and double interlocking tapestry weave
321.9 x 362.0 cm (126 3/4 x 142 5/8 in.)
Gift of Mrs. Chauncey McCormick and Mrs. Richard Ely Danielson, 1944.17
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To impress Antony, Cleopatra promised to organize the most lavish supper he had ever attended. The meal itself was ordinary, but at its end, Cleopatra dissolved a pearl in a cup of vinegar and drank it. This event was not recorded by Plutarch; it derives from Pliny’s Natural History (1st century A.D.).
