The Banquet of Cleopatra

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo painted this dramatic scene between 1743 and 1744, showing Cleopatra winning her wager with Mark Antony. She removes a pearl earring to dissolve in vinegar and drink, proving she can stage a feast more extravagant than his legendary excesses. Lucius Plancus, umpiring the bet, stops her from destroying the second pearl.

Count Francesco Algarotti purchased the painting directly from Tiepolo's Venice studio for Augustus III, King of Poland. It later entered Catherine the Great's collection before being sold by the Soviet government in 1932. The National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne acquired it the following year.

Tiepolo was the greatest Venetian painter of the 18th century, famous for his luminous frescoes and ceiling decorations. This is the first of three large versions he made of the Cleopatra banquet theme, and preparatory oil sketches for each version survive.