![Alessandro Turchi - Death of Cleopatra [c.1640] by Gandalf's Gallery](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5497/11851907834_c136327eea.jpg)
The subject has been taken from the work of Plutarch. Mark Antony, lover of the queen of Egypt, for whom he sacrificed his children and his wife Octavia, defeated in the battle of Actium by Augustus, has killed himself with his sword, surrounded by his attendants and his treasure; Cleopatra also kills herself by allowing an asp to bite her on the breast.
[Musée du Louvre, Paris - Oil on canvas, 255 x 267 cm]