Edmonia Lewis's The Death of Cleopatra: A Masterpiece of Ambiguity

Edmonia Lewis's life-size marble sculpture The Death of Cleopatra (1876) depicts the Egyptian queen slumped on her throne after death, still clasping the asp. The work features a Sphinx-like headdress and hieroglyphic decorations, though historically inaccurate. Two carved heads on the throne arms reference Cleopatra's twins with Mark Antony, and a ring on her wedding finger emphasizes their relationship. Unlike many depictions, Lewis's Cleopatra is not eroticized; her right breast is exposed only where the asp bit. Lewis, of Haitian and Chippewa descent, carved the piece herself in Rome, taking over Antonio Canova's studio. She spent four years on the sculpture, which debuted at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Critics found it repellently realistic. After failing to sell, the work was abandoned, used as a gravestone for a racehorse, and rediscovered in the 1980s. The Smithsonian restored it, though its pitted surface remains. Lewis's choice of white marble elevated marginalized subjects to classical status, but her Cleopatra has European features, reflecting her navigation of racial and aesthetic norms. The sculpture is now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.