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)

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

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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