Art Institute of Chicago
Caesar Sends a Messenger to Cleopatra from The Story of Caesar and Cleopatra
After a design by Justus van Egmont (1601–1674)LinkedCulture matchlcp-6c2dd7b77fed
- Date
- c. 1680
- Medium
- Wool and silk, slit and double interlocking tapestry weave Warp: Count: 8 warps per cm; wool: S-ply of three Z-spun elements; diameters: o.6–0.8 mm Weft: Count: varies from 18 to 42 wefts per cm; wool: S-ply of two Z-spun elements; pairs of S-ply of two Z-spun elements; diameters: 0.4–1.2 mm; silk: pairs and three yarns of S-ply of two Z-twisted elements; diameters: 0.7–1.2 mm; wool and silk: paired yarns of S-ply of two Z-spun wool elements and S-ply of two Z-twisted silk elements; diameters: 0.8–1.2 mm
- Culture
- Brussels
- Department
- Textiles
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 142548
From the Art Institute of Chicago record
This tapestry is from the Art Institute's suite of 14 hangings depicting events from the lives of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, and Cleopatra, whose intertwined love affairs and conflicts have provided material for storytellers from Roman times to the present day. After Caesar defeated Pompey, his rival for control of the Roman Republic, Pompey fled to Egypt, pursued by Caesar. In Egypt Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII was fighting a civil wat against his sister, wife, and co-regent, Cleopatra VII. Ptolemy had Pompey murdered, offending Caesar, who then involved himself in the Egyptian civil war. Caesar deposed Ptolemy and sought an alliance with Cleopatra. Depicted here is Cleopatra receiving Caesar's messenger, the beginning of their alliance and love affair.
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. Chauncey McCormick and Mrs. Richard Ely Danielson
- Provenance
- Villalonga family, Palma de Mallorca, Spain [housed in the family home known as Ca Dona Mira]; Francisco de Villalonga i Mir (1664–1737), Palma de Mallorca, Spain, by 1737 [Brosens 2008, 155; Thurman with Viladomiu 2023]; by descent within the family; sold by art dealer Apolonia Burguera through Olegario Junyent to Charles Deering (died 1927), Maricel, Sitges, Spain, 1915, then Chicago, from 1922 [on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago from 1922]; given to his daughters, Marion D. McCormick, Chicago (1886-1965; born Marion Deering; also Mrs. Chauncey McCormick) and Barbara D. Danielson, Chicago (1885-1957, born Barbara Deering, also Mrs. Richard Ely Danielson), 1924; given to the Art Institute, 1944.
Linked open data
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- Object type
- AAT300014063
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