Cleopatra VII (69–30 BC) was the last queen of Egypt before the country was annexed by the Roman Empire.

Descended from the Lagid dynasty, a Macedonian family established since Alexander the Great, she left her mark on history through her political intelligence, erudition, and strategic alliances with Rome. She is also known for being a great makeup artist. She used to do her makeup by herself with a lot of precision.

The reason why I post her here is because she influenced a lot our vision of beauty despite being **almost** a faceless queen.

She inspired Orientalist, then Hollywood, even when it wasn’t completely accurate. Her name is a symbol of power and beauty.

Ancient Roman frescoes depict her as a woman with red hair and a strong nose. At this time, Romans used to portray their famous "stars" of the time with an aspiration to be realist. Add to these elements the accurate statue that is in Berlin. When it came to depict even wrinkles, Roman wouldn’t be shy.

The strong nose thing is famous but few people know that she probably had red hair too.

We also have symbolic Egyptian art of her. She was a proud Egyptian queen

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Here are some of her other representations of her based on imagination :

These ones interestingly portray her with a strong nose.

These ones are reminiscent of the coins we found of her side profile. As you can see they used to portray her with a roman nose and a strict expression.

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But here is my fav representation of her :

On this painting we see archetypal details of her character. She has the roman nose, the oval face and her lips are hemed up.

The oval and long nose on the front are associated to aristocratic faces in academic art.

She has an equine profile. It’s oftenly mocked because we associate these profile to poneys... But here, her equine profile express more the urge of power. Let’s not forget that horses are the animals of the warriors and racers.

So by our modern standards it’s unconventional, by the artist’s standards it’s perfectly meaningful.

Look at her hand on the animal’s head, it’s masculine. It’s coded in order to show how independant and powerful she is.

She also looks beautiful. Her feminine features and charm aren’t erased. Her face is still roundish and soft. Her hairstyle and dress are orientalist, exotic.

In my opinion, this is the most amazing depiction of Cleopatra we have, her accurate portraits we have aside.

On this page, feel free to post modern depictions of her. The imagination surrounding her is amazing.

Oh, I love that a thread for Cleopatra VII exists!!

Thank you for creating it @Onirictase !

7 hours ago, Stormbringer said:

Oh, I love that a thread for Cleopatra VII exists!!

Thank you for creating it @Onirictase !

Your welcome 😁

Depictions from Asterix & Cleopatra

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They make great emphasis, throughout the whole comic, on her nose

6 hours ago, Stormbringer said:

Depictions from Asterix & Cleopatra

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They make great emphasis, throughout the whole comic, on her nose

My childhood 😁 I think it was through this movie adaptation that I discovered who Cleopatra was for the first time.

Such an iconic depiction of her 👍

Great thread! Thank you!

9 hours ago, nyepee said:

Great thread! Thank you!

Thank you and your welcome 😁