The Actress as Cleopatra (Mercedes de Cordoba, artist's wife) 1914

This painting depicts Arthur Beecher Carles's wife, Mercedes de Cordoba, in the guise of Cleopatra, though the exact date of its creation is unknown. The image makes meaning through visual codes that are associated with the orient and antiquity. The opulent jewelry and the draped fabrics, are less concerned with historical accuracy than with the symbolic deployment of a queen. The idea of Cleopatra would have been well known to the American public. Carles worked in a moment when institutions, such as museums and galleries, were increasingly concerned with American art as well as art from around the world. Carles’s portrayal of Cleopatra, a queen known for her power and influence, can be seen as commenting on the changing role of women in society at the time. For further understanding, we can look to social and institutional contexts, as well as accounts of artists. In doing so, we begin to appreciate that the meaning of art is always contingent on social and institutional contexts.