If anyone suddenly doesn't remember, the Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII, who for some reason is associated with the standard of beauty for many, lived from 69 to 30 BC, so, as you understand, she left us no photos. :) You can give free rein to your imagination. For example, the creators of the film "Osterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra" thought it should look like this:
But, we'd better turn to
historical data. The problem is that, over
so many years, not too many lifetime portraits of Cleopatra have survived. Moreover, at that time, portraits weren't even painted yet.
Or they were painted, but they haven't reached us. Therefore, what did the
celebrities of that time look like? we know either from their sculptural images or from their profiles on coins of that time. Naturally, the artist could have embellished, but judging by many of the not particularly attractive faces, this was not yet abused.
So, what did Cleopatra look like in reality?
Plutarch (a hundred years after her death) notes that
"the beauty of this woman was not what is called incomparable and strikes at first sight, but her manner was distinguished by irresistible charm, and therefore her appearance, combined with rare persuasiveness of speech, with enormous charm that shone through in every word, in every movement, firmly engraved itself in the soul."
In other words, translating from complimentary to ordinary, contemporaries did not consider the queen a stunning
beauty.
The most famous bust of Cleopatra depicts her at a young age.
A marble bust of Cleopatra, kept in a Berlin museum.
In general, a girl like a girl. Not exactly a beauty, but not ugly either. Quite cute, even. Other available sculptural images of the queen are not in such a good condition as this bust, so let's turn to the coins. This, by the way, is more reliable, because coins, unlike busts, are quite
identifiable. And scientists usually speak cautiously about sculptural images,
something like "bust of a young girl, presumably Queen Cleopatra".
So, what does Cleopatra look like on coins.
Portrait of Cleopatra on an Egyptian silver tetradrachm 50-49 BC.
Portrait of Cleopatra on a bronze coin minted in Alexandria in 51-30 BC.
Portrait of Cleopatra on a Syrian tetradrachm
Image of Cleopatra on a denarius of Mark Antony, 32 BC CE.
It is easy to notice that the portraits do not particularly resemble each other and even less resemble the sculpted bust. This is natural, since the bust
still depicts Cleopatra in her youth (she ascended the throne at the age of 17), and
there is no coin. In addition, each stamp cutter did this to the best of his abilities.
And since the means of communication at that time left much to be desired, it is not
a fact that all these cutters even saw the queen alive. Most likely, they copied
other images.
But, in general, it is clear
that the queen did not shine with beauty. Not quite the opposite.
Look at this coin, for example.
Denar 34 BC.
Cleopatra with a narrow forehead, large nose, narrow lips and a slack chin looks like a man, and her Roman lover Mark Antony with bulging eyes, a bull neck and a hooked nose, slanted profile looks like a slaughterhouse employee. They are still handsome.
©2012