Ashley Smith: In the Swim - The Telegraph by Dan Martensen, May 2012
Zenobia of Palmyra
JULIA AUREIA ZENOBIA, who claimed Cleopatra and Dido of Carthage as ancestors, became queen of Palmyra when her husband Septimius Odaenathus and his son were assassinated in 267. Zenobia’s son Vaballanthus was heir, but just an infant, so she ruled instead. In 269, Zenobia conquered Egypt and became known as the “Warrior Queen.” She conquered part of Asia Minor, as well. In 274 she was defeated by Aurelian near Antioch and rode in his triumphal parade, but was allowed to live the rest of her life in luxury in Rome. The Vatican Museum has a portrait bust of her:
She is not to be confused with Zenobia, the wife of Rhadamistus, who lived more than two hundred years earlier in a different region.
Masqueraders by Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta (Spanish, 1841–1920)
Madrazo was famous during his lifetime and painted portraits for wealthy French, American, British, and Argentine patrons. He was also known for his skillful and often flirtatious genre scenes, such as this painting in the Lehman Collection. In this scene, a couple dressed in extravagant costumes share drinks in a quiet conservatory after a ball. The male leans across the table, gazing at the coquettish blonde female whose face is hidden behind a black mask. She drapes her fingers across her chest, one of many gestures and details in the painting that Madrazo uses to evoke a playfully suggestive subject. The artist further entices the viewer with his beautiful painterly effects seen in the way that he conveys extraordinary material—satin, fur, porcelain, glass, feather, and velvet, all bathed in light.
