1745 (ca.), Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, The Banquet of Cleopatra -- National Gallery (London)

From the museum label: Cleopatra, ruler of Egypt, shows the Roman general, Mark Antony, her disregard for wealth. She is about to dissolve one of her priceless pearls in vinegar and drink the liquid - he jumps back in surprise. The story, told in Pliny's Natural History (Book IX), is one to which Tiepolo returned many times.

Done