--- title: Roman Portrait of Cleopatra author: Sergey Sosnovskiy source: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/8291/roman-portrait-of-cleopatra/ format: machine-readable-alternate license: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) updated: 1970-01-01 --- # Roman Portrait of Cleopatra _Authored by Sergey Sosnovskiy_ ## Image File [![Roman Portrait of Cleopatra](https://www.worldhistory.org/uploads/images/8291.jpg)](https://www.worldhistory.org/uploads/images/8291.jpg) ## Image Caption This marble copy of a portrait dates to between 40-30 BCE and is believed to depict the Ptolemaic queen [Cleopatra VII](https://www.worldhistory.org/Cleopatra_VII/). The bust is in fairly good condition although the nose has broken off. A broken off piece of marble on the statue's forehead has puzzled historians. It has been hypothesized that it was once a part of her diadem, perhaps a rearing cobra. However, the lump of marble does not appear to have been a part of the diadem and it has recently been suggested that the full statue originally portrayed [Cleopatra](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/cleopatra/) with her young son [Caesarion](https://www.worldhistory.org/caesarion/), and that the piece was part of the infant's hand. The bust is a part of the Vatican's collection of Antiquities in the Gregorian Profane Museum. ## Cite This Work ### APA Sosnovskiy, S. (2018, March 14). Roman Portrait of Cleopatra. *World History Encyclopedia*. ### Chicago Sosnovskiy, Sergey. "Roman Portrait of Cleopatra." *World History Encyclopedia*, March 14, 2018. . ### MLA Sosnovskiy, Sergey. "Roman Portrait of Cleopatra." *World History Encyclopedia*, 14 Mar 2018, . ## License & Copyright [Original image](http://ancientrome.ru/art/artworken/img.htm?id=6365) by **Sergey Sosnovskiy**. Submitted by [Arienne King](https://www.worldhistory.org/user/ava.spartan.117/ "User Page: Arienne King"), published on 14 March 2018. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0deed.en). This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon a work even for commercial reasons, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.