The Banquet of Cleopatra

Tiepolo was the greatest decorative painter in Europe, and here you can see why. The composition is built like a stage set, with the two principals at the ends of the table and a crowd of onlookers arranged behind. Look at the brushwork in Cleopatra's dress, where pale grey and cream are dragged across the canvas so that the fabric seems to catch light. Antony, in red armour with a black plume, leans forward with an expression that is half admiration and half alarm. The blacks and reds of his costume and the brilliant white of hers hold the eye at the centre. Above, a servant pours wine against a burst of blue sky, a typical Tiepolo trick to open up the space.

The painting was bought straight from Tiepolo's studio in 1744 by the connoisseur Francesco Algarotti for Augustus the Third, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, and hung in Dresden. It later passed to Catherine the Great and the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg. In 1932 the Soviet government sold it to raise foreign currency, and the National Gallery of Victoria bought it through the Felton Bequest. It is often called the greatest old master painting in Australia. A recent cleaning revealed the freshness of the colours and confirmed a memorable detail: the pearl in Cleopatra's fingers is a single dab of white paint.

Did You Know? The painting once belonged to Catherine the Great and was sold by the Soviet government in 1932 to raise hard currency.