Here’s something I didn’t know … this well-known (to Classicists, anyway) painting of Cleopatra’s death by D. Pauvert:
… is currently owned by the monogloved-one. Somehow I always thought MJ would have some ‘connection’ to Cleo … whatever the case, he’s putting this one up for auction.
rogueclassicism 
It’s well known to classicists, you say? Umm. And D. Pauvert, too? Oh dear, where have I been all these years?
… maybe not Pauvert, but the picture seems to be in every book about Cleopatra that has come out in the past couple of days; not sure if books have the Pauvert or the Rixens version (probably the latter)
I don’t think so, David: the painting is The Death of Cleopatra, was painted in 1874 by Jean André Rixens and belongs to the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse, France.
I saw it in the Giulio Cesare exhibition in Rome this month. This guy Pauvert may have copied it.
Gi ~ you must be right; this dates from 1892 and interestingly (considering how much we see problems with provenance in items closer to our purview) this one has a somewhat shaky provenance. According to the auction catalog (vol. 3 p. 109), “believed to be Lot 96 in Sotheby’s New York Sale of 19th century European Paintings and Sculpture held on May 23, 1996”.
http://www.juliensauctions.com/auctions/2009/michael-jackson/icatalog3.html
Now up on my blog, Cleopatra: The Queen of Pop’s Last Moments
I agree with Gi! I saw it at the exhibition as well !