Editing Cleopatra (section)

====Medieval and Early Modern reception====
{{further||Medieval art|Medieval literature|Renaissance art|Renaissance literature|Early Modern literature|}}
[[File:Giambattista Tiepolo - The Banquet of Cleopatra - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|''[[The Banquet of Cleopatra (Tiepolo)|The Banquet of Cleopatra]]'' (1744), by [[Giovanni Battista Tiepolo]], now in the [[National Gallery of Victoria]], Melbourne{{sfnp|Anderson|2003|pp=11–36}}]]
In modern times Cleopatra has become an icon of popular culture,{{sfnp|Anderson|2003|p=36}} a reputation shaped by theatrical representations dating back to the Renaissance as well as paintings and films.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|pp=6–7}} This material largely surpasses the scope and size of existent historiographic literature about her from classical antiquity and has made a greater impact on the general public's view of Cleopatra than the latter.{{sfnp|Roller|2010|pp=6–9}} The 14th-century English poet [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], in ''[[The Legend of Good Women]]'', contextualized Cleopatra for the Christian world of the [[Middle Ages]].{{sfnp|Gurval|2011|pp=73–74}} His depiction of Cleopatra and Antony, her shining [[knight]] engaged in [[courtly love]], has been interpreted in modern times as being either playful or misogynistic satire.{{sfnp|Gurval|2011|pp=73–74}}

Chaucer highlighted Cleopatra's relationships with only two men as hardly the life of a seductress and wrote his works partly in reaction to the negative depiction of Cleopatra in {{lang|la|[[De Mulieribus Claris]]}} and {{lang|la|[[De Casibus Virorum Illustrium]]}}, Latin works by the 14th-century Italian poet [[Giovanni Boccaccio]].{{sfnp|Anderson|2003|pp=51–54}}{{sfnp|Burstein|2004|p=68}} The [[Renaissance humanist]] {{interlanguage link|Bernardino Cacciante|it}}, in his 1504 ''Libretto apologetico delle donne'', was the first Italian to defend the reputation of Cleopatra and criticize the perceived moralizing and misogyny in Boccaccio's works.{{sfnp|Anderson|2003|pp=54–55}} Works of Islamic historiography [[Arabic literature|written in Arabic]] covered the reign of Cleopatra, such as the 10th-century ''[[Meadows of Gold]]'' by [[Al-Masudi]],{{sfnp|Preston|2009|p=25}} although his work erroneously claimed that Octavian died soon after Cleopatra's suicide.{{sfnp|Jones|2006|pp=271–274}}

Cleopatra appeared in [[Miniature (illuminated manuscript)|miniatures]] for [[illuminated manuscript]]s, such as a [[:File:Tomb of Cleopatra and Mark Antony, illuminated manuscript of Boccaccio, miniature by the Boucicaut master, 1409 AD (cropped).jpg|depiction of her and Antony]] lying in a [[International Gothic|Gothic-style]] tomb by the [[Boucicaut Master]] in 1409.{{sfnp|Anderson|2003|p=54}} In the visual arts, the sculpted depiction of Cleopatra as a free-standing nude figure committing suicide began with the 16th-century sculptors [[Bartolommeo Bandinelli]] and [[Alessandro Vittoria]].{{sfnp|Anderson|2003|p=60}} [[Old master print|Early prints]] depicting Cleopatra include designs by the Renaissance artists [[Raphael]] and [[Michelangelo]], as well as 15th-century [[woodcut]]s in illustrated editions of Boccaccio's works.{{sfnp|Anderson|2003|pp=51, 60–62}}

In the performing arts, the death of [[Elizabeth I of England]] in 1603, and the German publication in 1606 of alleged letters of Cleopatra, inspired [[Samuel Daniel]] to alter and republish his 1594 play ''Cleopatra'' in 1607.{{sfnp|Rowland|2011|p=232}} He was followed by [[William Shakespeare]], whose ''[[Antony and Cleopatra]]'', largely based on Plutarch, was first performed in 1608 and provided a somewhat salacious view of Cleopatra in stark contrast to England's own [[Virgin Queen]].{{sfnp|Rowland|2011|pp=232–233}} Cleopatra was also featured in operas, such as [[George Frideric Handel]]'s 1724 ''[[Giulio Cesare in Egitto]]'', which portrayed the love affair of Caesar and Cleopatra;{{sfnp|Woodstra|Brennan|Schrott|2005|p=548}} [[Domenico Cimarosa]] wrote ''[[Cleopatra (Cimarosa)|Cleopatra]]'' on a similar subject in 1789.{{sfnp|Woodstra|Brennan|Schrott|2005|p=299}}