Mich

el C

orne

ille,

the e

lder,

Cl

eopa

tra an

d th

e As

p, 16

50/1

660

Mich

el C

orne

ille, t

he el

der

(Fre

nch,

1601

/160

3–16

64)

Cleo

patra

and

the A

sp, 1

650/

1660

oil o

n ca

nvas

55 x

71 3/

8 inc

hes

Gift

of t

he D

r. Hen

ry V

ictor

Adi

x, Jr.

Trus

t20

01.13

Mich

el C

orne

ille w

as o

ne o

f the

foun

ders

of th

e Roy

al Ac

adem

y of P

aintin

g an

d Sc

ulptu

re in

Fra

nce i

n 16

48. M

embe

rs of

the

Acad

emy e

mbr

aced

the h

uman

ist id

eals

of th

e Ita

lian

Rena

issan

ce an

d co

nsid

ered

hist

orica

l nar

rativ

es—

draw

n fro

m cl

assic

al an

d bi

blica

l sou

rces

—th

e mos

t elev

ated

subj

ect m

atte

r for

art.

In ke

eping

with

thes

e the

ories

, Cor

neille

use

d th

e sto

ry o

f C

leopa

tra’s s

uicid

e to

illustr

ate a

mor

al les

son.

Cleo

patra

ruled

Egy

pt fr

om 4

8 to

31 B

CE.

She

form

ed p

ower

ful a

llianc

es—

politi

cal a

s well

as ro

man

tic—

with

the R

oman

ruler

s Juli

us C

aesa

r and

, fol

lowi

ng C

aesa

r’s d

eath

, Mar

c Ant

hony

. Whe

n C

leopa

tra’s a

nd M

arc A

ntho

ny’s a

rmies

wer

e ultim

ately

def

eate

d, C

leopa

tra p

refe

rred

suici

de to

subm

issio

n to

the v

ictor

ious

O

ctav

ius. S

he ch

ose a

dra

mat

ic de

ath—

clasp

ing a

poiso

nous

asp

to h

er b

reas

t—th

at w

ould

mak

e her

the s

ubjec

t of a

rtists

th

roug

h th

e age

s. In

Cor

neille

’s ver

sion,

she i

s dep

icted

as a

nobl

e lea

der a

t the

mom

ent o

f cho

ice b

etwe

en d

ishon

or an

d de

ath.

Clas

sical

Relat

ing to

ancie

nt G

reec

e and

Rom

e, es

pecia

lly in

the c

onte

xt o

f art,

arch

itect

ure,

and

litera

ture

.

Rena

issan

ceA

reviv

al or

rebi

rth o

f cult

ural

awar

enes

s and

lear

ning

that

took

beg

an in

Italy

in th

e fou

rteen

th ce

ntur

y and

late

r spr

ead

thro

ugho

ut E

urop

e, las

ting

thro

ugh

the s

ixtee

nth

cent

ury.

The p

erio

d wa

s cha

ract

erize

d by

a re

newe

d int

eres

t in

ancie

nt G

reek

an

d Ro

man

art a

nd d

esig

n an

d inc

luded

an em

phas

is on

hum

an b

eings

, the

ir en

viron

men

t, sc

ience

, and

phil

osop

hy.

Defin

itions

adap

ted f

rom

ArtL

ex A

rt Di

ction

ary (

http

://ww

w.art

lex.co

m/A

rtLex

/Intro

.htm

l) an

d MO

MA

Glos

sary

of A

rt Te

rms

(www

.mom

a.org

/learn

/mom

a_lea

rning

/glos

sary

).

Disc

ussio

n and

Act

ivitie

s1.

Befo

re re

ading

the t

itle o

r exp

lanat

ory p

arag

raph

, des

crib

e the

figu

res i

n th

is pa

inting

. Who

are t

hey?

Wha

t are

th

eir re

latio

nship

s to

each

oth

er? W

hat d

o th

eir p

hysic

al fe

atur

es—

cloth

ing, c

olor

ing, p

ostu

res—

tell y

ou ab

out t

heir

iden

tities

? 2.

Wha

t do

you

think

is h

appe

ning

in th

is sc

ene?

Wha

t is t

he m

ood

of th

e sce

ne? H

ow h

as th

e arti

st bu

ilt dr

ama a

nd

tens

ion

into

the s

tory

? Wha

t will

happ

en n

ext?

3. Sh

are a

nyth

ing yo

u kn

ow ab

out C

leopa

tra. Is

this

how

you

imag

ine h

er o

r hav

e see

n he

r por

traye

d in

othe

r artw

orks

, fil

ms,

or h

istor

y boo

ks? W

hat d

oes C

orne

ille’s r

epre

sent

atio

n of

Cleo

patra

reve

al ab

out s

even

teen

th-c

entu

ry F

renc

h id

eals

of b

eaut

y, vir

tue,

and

nobi

lity?

4.

Ta

blea

u ac

tivity

for u

p to

eigh

t stu

dent

s: Po

sitio

n yo

urse

lves a

s a g

roup

to re

pres

ent t

he va

rious

par

ts of

the p

aintin

g—fig

ures

as w

ell as

inan

imat

e obj

ects.

One

stud

ent c

an ac

t as a

dire

ctor

, help

ing o

ther

s pos

ition

their

bod

ies at

low

(clo

se

to fl

oor),

mid

dle,

and

highe

r poi

nts.

Free

ze th

e mom

ent.

Disc

uss n

ew in

sight

s int

o th

e wor

k. Re

peat

the t

ablea

u fo

r the

m

omen

t in

time i

mm

ediat

ely fo

llowi

ng w

hat t

he p

aintin

g de

pict

s. Fr

eeze

that

mom

ent,

then

disc

uss y

our c

hoice

s.

portl

anda

rtmus

eum

.org/

learn

/edu

cato

rsSc

hedu

le a f

ree s

choo

l tou

r. Let

us k

now

you

would

like t

o se

e Cor

neille

’s Cleo

patra

.D

iscov

er ad

ditio

nal r

esou

rces

, less

ons,

and

activ

ities.

Find

pro

gram

s for

educ

ator

s and

stud

ents.

This

proj

ect w

as m

ade p

ossib

le by

a gr

ant f

rom

the