Edmonia Lewis Exhibits The Death of Cleopatra at Philadelphia Centennial

Sculptor Edmonia Lewis — of Chippewa and African American heritage — exhibited her monumental marble sculpture The Death of Cleopatra, weighing over 3,000 pounds, at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. The work broke with idealized tradition to show Cleopatra realistically in death, and Lewis became the first professionally successful Black sculptor in American history.