Ottmar Elliger der Jüngere
Emperor Augustus at Cleopatra's deathbed
Emperor Augustus at Cleopatra's deathbed
Ottmar Elliger the Younger (Hamburg 1666 – 1735 St. Petersburg)
Counterpart of « The banquet of Cleopatra »
Oil on canvas
55,5 × 67,5 cm
Ottmar Elliger has painted the famous story of the profligate Egyptian queen Cleopatra. She bet with her Roman lover, Marcus Antonius, that she would manage to spend 10,000 talents at a single feast. She won the bet by dissolving a pearl from her earring in a cup of vinegar and drinking this extravagant mixture.
The depiction is based on an engraving by the painter Gerard de Lairesse (1640-1711).
Ottmar Elliger the Younger was the son of the still life painter of the same name. After his father's death, he moved to Amsterdam and studied under Michiel von Musscher. From 1686, he worked in the studio of Gérard de Lairesse and was already responsible for large commissions such as architectural paintings, murals and ceiling paintings. Around 1716, Elliger became the court painter to the Elector of Mainz. From 1726 he worked at the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg.
Dr. Carmen Roll, author of the catalog raisonné on Ottmar Elliger, has examined the paintings and relates them to a similar variant in private ownership in Switzerland.
Prov.: Collection Wolfgang Gurlitt, Berlin,
Private Collection, Munich
The depiction is based on an engraving by the painter Gerard de Lairesse (1640-1711).
Ottmar Elliger the Younger was the son of the still life painter of the same name. After his father's death, he moved to Amsterdam and studied under Michiel von Musscher. From 1686, he worked in the studio of Gérard de Lairesse and was already responsible for large commissions such as architectural paintings, murals and ceiling paintings. Around 1716, Elliger became the court painter to the Elector of Mainz. From 1726 he worked at the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg.
Dr. Carmen Roll, author of the catalog raisonné on Ottmar Elliger, has examined the paintings and relates them to a similar variant in private ownership in Switzerland.
Prov.: Collection Wolfgang Gurlitt, Berlin,
Private Collection, Munich
