The Banquet of Cleopatra

[1] The third person at the table is Lucius Munatius Plancus, at the time Antony's ally, who was to decide the winner of the wager.

The most notable painting is by The Banquet of Cleopatra by the Italian artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, now in the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia.

There are two versions by Jan de Bray, using his own family, including himself, as models (Royal Collection, 1652, and Currier Museum of Art, New Hampshire, 1669).

[6] Other artists included Gerard Hoet, who painted three versions of the subject in the early 18th century (two are in the Getty Center and Bayreuth, Germany).

[7] In both the Italian and northern traditions the subject fitted well into existing genres showing lavish dining, with the added attraction of making a more prestigious history painting with an impeccable and exotic classical origin.