The Banquet of Antony and Cleopatra

Fragonard employed the etching process, incising lines into a copper plate that were then inked and pressed onto paper. The fine, crisp lines preserve the delicate detail of the dissolving pearl, allowing the fleeting action to remain permanently rendered. The overall tone is light‑hearted rather than solemn, reflecting the artist’s pre‑revolutionary sensibility.

Created several decades before the upheavals of the French Revolution, the print belongs to the later period of Fragonard’s career when he explored printmaking alongside his more familiar oil paintings. Its survival on laid paper indicates it was likely intended for a limited audience of collectors familiar with the artist’s work.

The subject draws on a well‑known anecdote from Plutarch and later dramatizations, wherein Cleopatra’s demonstration of a pearl’s dissolution served as a test of Antony’s generosity. Fragonard’s treatment aligns with the 18th‑century French fascination with classical themes, yet his rendering emphasizes wit over heroic grandeur.