Audio: Guercino's "The Suicide of Cleopatra" Meditation

The Expressive Body: Memory, Devotion, Desire (1400 – 1750), on view October 15, 2021 – March 7, 2022.  

Guercino's The Suicide of Cleopatra, c. 1621

Transcript: 

Take a few deep breaths and bring awareness to your body. Notice your whole body in the present moment.

Bring your awareness to the texture of Cleopatra’s skin, the pearl drop earring barely touching her exposed neck.

Imagine the weight of the voluminous sleeves of her gown, draped with velvet and enveloping her body.

Observe her fingers as they rub against the rough weave of the basket and grasp the scales of the snake, inviting us to imagine these contrasting textures.  

Finally, take note of her forlorn expression, and her twisting body framed by the crumbling structure in the background.