Signs of Cleopatra Reading an Icon Historically

"Why is the name of Cleopatra still resonant after two thousand years? As lover of both Mark Antony and Caesar, and mother of four children by them, her name speaks of pleasure and of intimate relationship. But when Cleopatra was rendered a figure of contempt, first by Augustus, and then later by the Vatican, the desire for love became officially suspect in Christian Europe." "In the face of this contradiction, artists down the centuries responded by returning to the original Cleopatra, retelling her story and re-fashioning images of her. Mary Hamer selects a number of key examples, contextualizing them in time and place within European history. Exploring what these images meant to contemporaries, she opens up new and unexpected readings." "This updated second edition incorporates a new concluding essay examining the recent debate over the surprisingly contentious issue of Cleopatra's race."--BOOK JACKET.