Cleopatra's Banquet

Amid a classical setting of columns, arches and CaryatidsCaryatidsA caryatid is a column in the shape of a woman. The classical author Vitruvius describes the origins of these columns. When the inhabitants of the Peloponnesian city of Caria conspired to side with the Persians against the Greek alliance, all the menfolk were killed and all the women taken captive. Subsequently, architects designed columns in the form of women as a warning: these were the Caryatids and anyone who conspired as they did would meet the same fate as the people of Caria., a spectacular drama is taking place in the first century BC. It is painted by Gerard Lairesse. The Egyptian queen, Cleopatra, is about to remove her second pearl earring and subject it to the same fate as the first - dissolve it in vinegar and drink it. With this she would have won a bet with her lover, the Roman leader Mark Antony. She had wagered that she could give a feast for ten million sestertiaSestercesA sesterce is a Roman silver coin worth a quarter of a denarius. The denarius, also made of silver, was introduced in 269 BC. Gold denarii were minted later; the gold denarius was worth ten silver denarii.. Lucius Plancus stops her dissolving the second earring. This Roman's gaze forms the link between the main characters in this painting.