18th-century Hispano-American school, possibly Arequipa, Per - Lot 65

18th-century Hispano-American school, possibly Arequipa, Peru - Dying Mark Antony, hoisted beside Cleopatra in her mausoleum - Cleopatra's suicide Oil on canvas, a pair 267 x 201 cm (restorations) Our two spectacular paintings, in monumental formats, are a rare example of historical painting produced by the artists of the Viceroyalty of Peru, and tell with drama and sentimentality the final episode of the Roman Republic's Last Civil War, before the advent of Augustus' Imperium. Opposed to Octavian since 32 B.C., Antony suffered a crushing defeat at Actium (September 2, 31 B.C.), and withdrew from the world near the island of Pharos. Cleopatra convinced him to return to Alexandria, where they drowned their despair in lust and drunkenness, taking virtually no action to counter Octavian's increasingly triumphant advance. After a last stand in front of Pelusa, Antony saw his last troops and the Egyptian fleet defect. Fearing Antony's anger and despair, Cleopatra spread the rumor that she had died in her mausoleum, where she had taken refuge when Octavian arrived and where she had piled up all her riches. On August 1, 30, believing that Cleopatra had taken her own life and thus betrayed him, Mark Antony committed suicide at the age of 53. According to Plutarch's lyrical account, Antony pierced his chest with his sword, but not hard enough to die instantly. In agony, he was carried to the queen's barricaded mausoleum, where he was hoisted by rope to a window. Octavian sent his men to seize the queen, who was placed under house arrest in a room in the royal palace. The triumvir fears that she will commit suicide by setting fire to her treasures, which would deprive him of his wealth and his triumph, where he dreams of showing her off. He only allows her to give Antony a funeral. This is done with magnificence. Octavian was unable to prevent Cleopatra from committing suicide a little over a week after her lover, at the age of nearly 40. As Pharaoh of Egypt, he gave her a royal funeral, and she was buried next to Antony.