Description
Book SynopsisIn addition, by restoring these works to their original context – political, philosophical and aesthetic – the author opens up unexpected new readings of images and texts which had previously appeared to be self-explanatory.The purpose of this book is to raise questions about how these images of a dead Egyptian queen were read.
Trade ReviewMary Hamer has written a fascinating study of politics and desire, authority and sexuality, through the protean figure of Cleopatra.
Barbara JohnsonAn example of the best kind of research on a female figure whose resonance in myth/history carries a weight of baggage that needs feminist investigation.
Naomi Segal, University of LondonThe book is far stronger than a lot of recent competitors and is much more sensitively written.
Sally-Ann Ashton, Fitzwilliam Museum, CambridgeSigns of Cleopatra’s very rigorous engagement with art history and the Cleopatra icon makes it particularly useful for courses on art history, visual culture and women’s studies… Especially valuable are the coherent readings of visual images, supported by fantastic illustrations.
Francesca RoysterTable of Contents
- List of plates
- Preface to the 2008 edition
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1. Looking like a queen
- 2. Cleopatra: housewife
- 3. Newton and Cleopatra
- 4. Spaced out: Cleopatra and the citizen-king
- 5. A body for Cleopatra
- Notes
- Afterword: Cleopatra in the twenty-first century: The debate over race
- Bibliography
- Index
