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an image of a painting of a woman holding a bird in her handsan oil painting of a woman holding a bird in her hand
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63 - Guido Cagnacci – Cleopatra Oil on canvas 65.
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Estimate €30,000 - €50,000
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Description
Guido Cagnacci – Cleopatra Oil on canvas 65.5 x 49 cm The painting depicts Cleopatra in the moment before her death, shown in half-length as she holds the asp to her breast. Her head tilted back, her gaze turned upwards and her lips parted convey that combination of sensuality, abandonment and emotional tension which is one of the most characteristic features of Guido Cagnacci’s painting.In his 2012 expert opinion, Nicholas Turner unequivocally confirms the work’s authenticity, highlighting the quality of the paint, the softness of the brushstrokes and the distinctive luminosity of the flesh tones. The scholar highlights, above all, the refined modulation of the chiaroscuro effects on the face and neck, as well as the delicate touches of light in the eyes, on the tip of the nose, on the earring and on the fingers.Turner also draws a parallel between the head of this Cleopatra and that of Saint Agatha, known from two autograph versions: one already in a private collection in Bologna and the other at the Banca Popolare dell’Emilia-Romagna in Modena, both generally dated to around 1640. The close correspondence between the two models suggests that Cagnacci reused the same facial design, in keeping with a common practice in his depiction of female figures.Turner also compares the painting with two other versions of Cleopatra: one held at the Museo della Città in Rimini and the other formerly on the Genoese antiques market. Compared to these, the present composition stands out for the figure’s more expansive proportions and the particular luminosity of the skin tone. Andrea Emiliani, too, in his 2014 catalogue entry, attributes the work to the artist’s period of full maturity, around the mid-1630s, when Cagnacci gradually softened the more pronounced naturalistic contrasts of his early phase to move towards a softer, more classicist style, strongly influenced by the example of Guido Reni.The reclined head, the eyes turned towards the sky and the expression poised between pain and ecstasy are indeed drawn from Reni’s repertoire, though reinterpreted by Cagnacci through a more intense sensual and psychological engagement. The light, falling obliquely across the chest and more dramatically on the face, helps to endow the figure with a vivid, physical presence, transforming the ancient heroine into an image of intense humanity.The painting thus belongs to one of the most representative groups within Cagnacci’s oeuvre: that of female heroines captured at the climax of their stories, a theme the artist would go on to develop further in his celebrated mature works. Framed.The work is accompanied by a critical report by Nicholas Turner, dated 16 August 2012, and by a critical report by Andrea Emiliani, dated Bologna, 15 October 2014. The attribution has also been confirmed by verbal opinion from Nicosetta Roio and Emilio Negro.
See original version (Italian)
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About the sale Paintings and Drawings from the 15th to the 19th century
Auction location
Auction time 10/29/2026 at 3:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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