Cleopatra

William Wetmore Story

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Neoclassical sculptors often drew upon mythology, history, the Bible, and literature for their subject matter. "Cleopatra" exemplifies Story’s penchant for depicting famous—or infamous—personalities from history as they contemplate past deeds or forthcoming actions of cataclysmic significance. Here, Cleopatra (69–30 B.C.), the last Macedonian ruler of Egypt, meditates suicide; the asp curled around her left arm predicts her death from its venomous bite. Story rendered his figures on a monumental scale and paid meticulous attention to archaeological exactitude in their props and costumes. Cleopatra wears the "nemes," or royal headcloth, topped with the "uraeus," or cobra headdress.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art