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Cleopatra, a Life Little, Brown and Company (2010) µ˙ Book Club Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 Stacy Schiff, Cleopatra, A Life Little, Brown and Company (2010) Pulitzer Prize winning biographer, Stacy Schiff, paints a vivid picture of the luxurious lifestyle of the Queen of the Nile, her twin roles as political leader and goddess, and the nail-biting plots and schemes that defined her world. How to Use this Discussion Guide How to Book an MFAH Book Club Tour Creating bridges between the literary and visual arts—this is To complement your reading and discussion of Stacy what makes the MFAH Book Club unique. All art arises Schiff’s Cleopatra, A Life , tours are available October 16, from the context of its time. The MFAH Book Club uses 2011 through April 15, 2012. These discussion-based, works of art from the collection of the Museum of Fine docent-led tours will feature art works selected from the Arts, Houston (MFAH), and from museums around the MFAH collections that evoke life in antiquity and timeless world, as the hub for a series of questions directly related human themes. to Stacy Schiff’s C leopatra, A Life. To book a tour at a time of your own choosing. Discuss the questions with your book club, or a friend, or Read and discuss the book in your own book club, then just think about them if reading on your own, then bring book your group for a guided tour led by a gallery educator your book and take a guided tour of select works at the at MFAH Book Club. A minimum of 8 people are required. MFAH on a Book Club Tour! Not in a book club? Reading on your own or with a friend? The MFAH has scheduled walk-in tours for each book selection on specific dates and times throughout the season. Visit www.mfah.org/bookclub for the walk-in tour schedule, and to register for a specific tour. Please note: MFAH Book Club Tour of Cleopatra, A MFAH Members General Public Life do not enter the ticketed exhibition, Tutankhamun: • Call 713-639-77 71 • Call 1-888-931-4TUT • Visit www.mfah.org/kingtut • Visit www.kingtut.org The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs . To arrange • Stop by a Membership for tickets to the exhibition: Services desk at the MFAH 1 General Questions Here are two overarching questions to consider as you talk about the more specific questions below: Why do you think Cleopatra’s story has captivated historians and artists for over two thousand years? Discuss the role of subjectivity in historical records. How does Schiff factor that subjectivity into her account? Do you think neutrality is possible when documenting events in one’s own time? When looking back to the past? Cleopatra: Queen & Goddess The book contains several descriptions of Cleopatra’s physical appearance. How do they compare to this anonymous Mummy Portrait of a Young Woman from the MFAH collection? Based on what Schiff’s descriptions of Cleopatra’s Ptolemaic predecessors and siblings, was she more like a Macedonian Greek monarch or more like an Egyptian pharaoh? Roman Period Egyptian, Mummy Portrait of a Young Woman , early 2nd century A.D., painted plaster, the MFAH, gift of The Brown Foundation, Inc., Isabel B. Wilson, Mary Porter, Nancy and Mark Abendshein, and Mrs. Thomas W. Blake. Discuss the differences between women’s roles and rights in ancient Egyptian and Roman society. Cleopatra has been painted as a seductress rather than as an adept ruler, even though she came from a long line of strong female rulers. What do you think and why? Are there any women today you would compare to Cleopatra? What characteristics do they share with her? 2 Cleopatra: Queen & Goddess (continued) Below are 8 images of Cleopatra, from ancient to modern times. Which do you feel best captures your vision of Cleopatra, and why? Left to right, top to bottom: Figure of Cleopatra VII , 51 –30 B.C., basalt, State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia. Bust of Cleopatra VII , 40 –30 B.C., marble, Altes Museum, Berlin. Michael Wohlgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, Cleopatra , 1493, illustration in Dr. Hartmann Schedel, The Nuremberg Chronicle (June 1493, Latin ed.; Dec. 1493, German ed.; pub. Anton Koberger), The Robert D. Farber University Archives and Special Collections, Brandeis University. Peter Paul Rubens, Cleopatra , c. 1615, oil on oak panel, National Gallery in Prague, Czech Republic. François Lemoine, Cleopatra , c. 1725, oil on canvas, Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN. Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Cleopatra , 1877, oil on panel, Auckland City Art Gallery, New Zealand. Jules Olitski, Cleopatra Flesh , 1962, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, The Museum of Modern Art, New York; gift of G. David Thompson, 1964, (262.1964), © The Museum of Modern Art/ Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NY, © Jules Olitski/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Andy Warhol, Blue Liz as Cleopatra , 1963, silkscreen ink and acrylic paint on canvas, The Daros Collection, Zürich, Switzerland. 3 Cleopatra: Queen & Goddess (continued) Amongst the innumerable images of Cleopatra are also numerous accounts of her life, her loves, and her death. Renowned British poet Ted Hughes composed the following poem— “Cleopatra to the Asp” (1960)—about the Queen’s/ Goddess’s final thoughts. What are your thoughts about it? (If with a group, ask one volunteer to read the poem aloud.) The bright mirror I braved; the devil in it Loved me like my soul; my soul About Ted Hughes Now that I seek myself in a Serpent An English poet and children’s writer, ranked My smile is fatal. fourth on The London Times 2008 list of “The 50 greatest British writers since 1945”, who Nile moves in me; my thighs splay served as British Poet Laureate from 1984 until Into the squalled Mediterranean. his passing in 1998. Hughes was married to My brain hides in that Abyssinia the American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 until Lost armies foundered towards. her death by suicide in 1963 (age 30). He is best known for The Hawk in the Rain (1957); Desert and river unwrinkle again an epic narrative The Life and Songs of the Seeming to bring them the waters Crow (1966) accompanying illustrations of that make drunk. Caesar, Pompey, Antony I drank. crows by Leonard Baskin; the children’s book, Now let the snake reign. The Iron Man (1968); and his collection of Laureate poems, Rain-charm for the Duchy A half-deity out of Capricorn this rigid Augustus mounts (1992). On 22 March 2010, it was announced With his sword virginal indeed! that he would be commemorated with a And has shorn summarily memorialin Poets’ Corner in Westminster The moon-horned river Abbey, to be installed in 2011. From my bed. May the moon ruin him with virginity! Drink me, now, whole, with coiled Egypt’s past Then from my Delta swim Like a fish toward Rome. In Chapter 9, Cleopatra’s suicide is described, and a 2000-year-old myth is debunked. What do you think about the likely truth about the cause of her death? The Men in Cleopatra’s Life How were Cleopatra’s first encounters with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony different? Schiff compares Cleopatra with Caesar (Chapter 3) and Antony (Chapter 6). What seem to be their similarities and differences? Look at these portrait busts of both men, made during their lifetime and during the same decade, and discuss what messages they convey about Caesar and Antony’s character. Do you think Cleopatra loved Caesar, Mark Antony, both? Left: Gaius Julius Caesar (called Tusculum Caesar ), 45 – 43 B.C., marble, Do you think either or both men loved her? How would you Museum of Antiquities, Turin, Italy. describe the nature of their relationships? Right: Marcus Antonius , c. 43 –39 B.C., marble, Vatican Museums, Rome, Italy. 4 The Men in Cleopatra’s Life (continued) Look at the Portrait Figure of a Ruler from the MFAH collection. Though made after both Caesar and Antony lived, which might it embody— and why? Stacy Schiff writes, “It is not difficult to understand why Caesar became history, Cleopatra a legend” (page 5). What are the differences between the two? Are these differences related to gender? Portrait Figure of a Ruler , c. A.D. 200 –225, bronze, the MFAH, gift of D. and J. de Menil in memory of Conrad Schlumberger. Places: On the Nile, on the Tibor Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C., the city of Alexandria quickly became a center of culture and learning for the ancient world. After Julius Caesar conquered the city for Rome in 48 B.C., it gradually declined. Share what you learned about Alexandria from Schiff’s descriptions (especially Chapter 6). In Chapter 3, Schiff writes in reference to the difficult position of the Ptolemaic Pharaohs, specifically Cleopatra’s father, Auletes: “Failure to comply with Rome would lead to intervention. Failure to stand up to Rome would lead to riots.” What gave Rome this right to control Egypt? In Chapter 4, Cleopatra’s long, difficult, and dangerous journey to Rome is described. Share your impressions of the journey. To the right is a painting, on view at the MFAH, of a type called a capriccio (Italian; English = caprice), an architectural fantasy that combines actual buildings, archaeological remains and other architectural elements, typically with figures. How do you imagine Cleopatra viewed Rome? Once in Rome, Cleopatra stays at Caesar’s villa from which, we are told, “she enjoyed a clear view of the city below” (Chapter 4). How does Schiff describe the differences between Rome and Alexandria during this period? Johannes Lingelbach, A Capriccio View of Rome with the Castel Sant’Angelo , 1655, Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Houston.
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