Painted for and until recently housed in Sweden’s Tistad Castle, this historical genre canvas by Swedish Academic painter Julius Kronberg vividly brings to life the final moments of Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt (69-30 B.C.E.), one of the most myth enshrouded female figures in history. The artist took his inspiration from Shakespeare’s tragedy Antony and Cleopatra, which had been published in Sweden for the first time in 1825. In the tragic final act, Cleopatra mourns her lover Antony’s death, while also refusing to surrender to Octavian, who wishes to take her to Rome as a prisoner of war. Rather than become a spectacle of Rome, she resolves to commit suicide with her handmaidens, Charmian and Iras. Kronberg brilliantly captures the moment in which, after her handmaiden Iras has already died, Cleopatra reaches for a poisonous asp to press to her own breast. Her handmaiden Charmian kneels with her back to the viewer, but the brokenhearted anguish of her stance makes clear her despair in the face of what she is witnessing. Cleopatra herself comes across as strong and resolute in spite of the task ahead of her. 1883, oil on canvas, M.S. Rau Collection.