Cleopatra - Isidore de Rudder (1855 - 1943)

"Cleopatra" by the sculptor Isidore de Rudder (1855 - 1943)

The death of Cleopatra remains one of the most dramatic and mythical tales of ancient history, shrouded in mystery and legend. According to the most famous tradition, Cleopatra committed suicide by the venom of a snake, often described as an asp, after the defeat of her forces combined with those of Mark Antony against the armies of Octavian (the future Augustus) during the Battle of Actium in 31 BC.

After their defeat, Cleopatra and Mark Antony retreated to Egypt. Mark Antony, mistakenly believing Cleopatra to be dead, committed suicide by sword. Cleopatra, after attempting to negotiate with Octavian and faced with the prospect of being taken to Rome as a war trophy, also chose to end her life.

The Belgian sculptor Isidore De Rudder (Brussels 1855 - 1943 Brussels)

Isidore De Rudder (Brussels 1855 - 1943 Brussels) was born in Brussels in 1855 into a family of art lovers. His father owns a workshop of plaster sculpture.

From 1869 to 1880, Isidore was enrolled at the Brussels Academy. He exhibited his first sculpture "Tête d'Enfant" at the Ghent Salon in 1880. He then exhibited in the 1881 Salon with "Feue Madame L." and in the Union des Arts circle in 1882 with "Le Petit Pêcheur". The same year he finished 2nd at the Prix de Rome, which allowed him to travel to various European countries such as Germany, England and France.
 
He will participate in many other shows:
- Union des Arts 1883.
- Antwerp and Brussels 1883 exhibition with "The Truth and the Nest" (now in the Antwerp Museum.
- Brussels 1893 exhibition with "Man with Swans".
- Antwerp World Fair in 1894.
 

Isidore creates various works included in house facades or wins competitions for monuments:
- "Allegory of Tragedy" in 1887 for the façade of the Flemish Theatre in Brussels.
- "Jan van Coudenberghe" in 1888 for the Brussels City Hall.
- "Art" in 1904 for the Maison Communale de Saint-Gilles. 
- The "Rogier Funeral Monument" at the Saint-Josse-ten-Noode cemetery in 1888.
- The "Stork and Fish" fountain for the Brussels Botanical Garden in 1894.
- The "monument for J.F. Willems" in Ghent in 1899.
-In Monument "Recognition of Belgium to France" at the Place de l'Alma in Paris in 1923.
- The "War Memorial" at the Ixelles cemetery in 1923.

Isidore was a professor at the Brussels Academy from 1911 to 1915 and from 1919 to 1925.

There is a marble sculpture "The Nest" which is currently exhibited in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp. There is also a plaster sculpture of "L'Education morale" at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels.
 
Isidore was a very versatile and gifted artist, besides plaster, bronze and marble, he also worked in silver (at Wolfers), ivory, porcelain, ceramics (at Boch), sandstone (at Guérin), tin, biscuit and ivory. Throughout his career, he sculpted genre scenes, portraits and busts in the Art-Nouveau and later Art-Deco style.
 
This bronze sculpture from the Art-Nouveau period is a unique work of art by the artist.