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~a tale of toxic couples and a power play that ends in murder to prove a point that is neither interesting nor funny~

According to Pliny, during the time leading up to the fateful Battle of Actium in 31 BC, Mark Antony kept a food taster on hand at all times, as he distrusted Cleopatra and was worried that she would poison him when she no longer had any use for him.

Pliny goes on to state that Cleopatra found this amusing, and decided to entertain herself at his expense. Therefore, at a banquet, she wore a circlet of flowers, of which their extremities were dipped in poison, on her head. As the feasting went on, the atmosphere became increasingly merry, and Cleopatra challenged her lover to swallow the flowers by mixing them with wine.

Mark Antony could not refuse the challenge, and nearly drank the poisoned wine when the queen stopped him. She then summoned his food taster, who, needless to say, dropped dead after drinking the wine.

Thus, Cleopatra demonstrated to Mark Antony that the best precaution he had against being poisoned was to trust her.

Cleopatra's Banquet by Gerard de Lairesse (Flemish, 1641-1711)

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campusalot 1mo ago

on the painter: De Lairesse was born in Liège and was the second son of painter Renier de Lairesse (1597-1667).

He studied art under his father and from 1655 under Bertholet Flemalle. He worked in Cologne and Aix-la-Chapelle for Maximilian Henry of Bavaria from 1660.

In 1664 De Lairesse fled from Liège after an affair with two sisters, his models, led to difficulties. He travelled north with a girl named Marie Salme and married her in Visé. The couple settled in Utrecht, where a son was baptized in April 1665.

When his talent as an artist was discovered by the art dealer Gerrit van Uylenburgh, he moved to Amsterdam. De Lairesse arrived with his violin, with which he impressed Jan van Pee and probably Anthonie Claesz de Grebber in Uylenburgh's studio.

In 1670 a son, Abraham, was born; the engraver Abraham Blooteling, with whom he collaborated, was the witness at the baptism; another son was baptized in 1673.

In 1671, when Van Uylenburgh tried to sell 13 paintings to Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, Hendrick Fromantiou successfully advised the Elector to send 12 pieces back as forgeries. Fromantiou claimed the paintings were copies of Italian ones, and he could point out the originals in Holland. De Lairesse was one of 51 individuals involved because of their expertise.

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