Edmonia Lewis Exhibits 'The Death of Cleopatra' at Philadelphia Centennial

Sculptor Edmonia Lewis exhibited her massive 3,015-pound marble sculpture 'The Death of Cleopatra' at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. The work depicted Cleopatra in the moments after death — a radical departure from idealized neoclassical convention. Lewis, of Black and Ojibwe heritage, was one of the first professionally successful Black American sculptors.