Crayon on paper
30 x 22cm
Signed lower left
Edwards' depicts Cleopatra, the famed Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, with her native Egypt behind. Known for her allure, intellect, and political maneuvering, her seductions lead to alliances with Roman leaders Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Her reign ended tragically when she and Antony were defeated by Octavian. A scene illustrated at the bottom of the sheet, as her maid smuggles a snake, believed to be an asp, into her chamber, hidden in a fruit basket, for the Queen to commit her suicide.
The work shows the influence of the artist's contemporaries, the Pre-Raphelite Brotherhood, both in style and subject. The femme fatale, especially of classical or mythological origin, was a common motif of the group. Edwards exhibitied at the Royal Academy between 1896 and 1900.
