Cleopatra
John William Waterhouse (1849-1917)#i love this picture of cleopatra #because she’s pretty enough but she’s not gorgeous #the art is doing nothing to emphasize her beauty #(there’s no exposed breast #her clothes aren’t sheer and her face is actually partially hidden #and she’s slumped over) #instead the focus is that expression on her face #and it’s not a cruel expression like you see with Lucrezia Borgia or paintings of Lady Macbeth #the emotion there doesn’t exist for the audience to witness and determine her character from #if anything she looks lost in thought #not the dreamy type but like when you’re trying to figure out a difficult problem #because you’re the Pharoah of Egypt and are holding off the Romans as long as you can #I love this picture because I think this is the real Cleopatra #it’s like taking a telescope and looking back in time at who she was and what she was like #a dead-smart girl famous for her political maneuvering and cleverness #not the poster child of evil beauty (via @dark-haired-hamlet)
A Middleground 