Lot Essay
The present picture has the same dimensions and similar multifigured composition displayed in an elaborate architectural interior as The Banquet of Cleopatra in The Getty Museum (Catalogue of the Paintings in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 1972, no. 123). The latter, unsigned, also has a German provenance and was acquired by the Getty from the Munich dealer Julius Böhler in 1969.
Various versions of both pictures are recorded. For example, a smaller, less elaborate Death of Cleopatra was offered in these Rooms on 21 Nov. 1924, lot 60 (bought by the Leger Gallery for 10gns.) Three other versions of the Banquet of Cleopatra are known: in the museum in Schleissheim (signed), in the Palazzo Barberini, Rome (signed), and a third was offered at Sotheby's, 9 Dec. 1981, lot 62. The latter two pictures also had pendants, one depicting The Banquet of Aeneas and Dido and the other Salome dancing at the Banquet of Herod. It is likely, therefore, that the Getty painting had a similar pendant, which may possibly be identified as the present picture.
Various versions of both pictures are recorded. For example, a smaller, less elaborate Death of Cleopatra was offered in these Rooms on 21 Nov. 1924, lot 60 (bought by the Leger Gallery for 10gns.) Three other versions of the Banquet of Cleopatra are known: in the museum in Schleissheim (signed), in the Palazzo Barberini, Rome (signed), and a third was offered at Sotheby's, 9 Dec. 1981, lot 62. The latter two pictures also had pendants, one depicting The Banquet of Aeneas and Dido and the other Salome dancing at the Banquet of Herod. It is likely, therefore, that the Getty painting had a similar pendant, which may possibly be identified as the present picture.