Edmonia Lewis’s monumental marble sculpture, 'The Death of Cleopatra', debuted to massive acclaim at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia before vanishing into a bizarre century-long obscurity. After failing to sell, the two-ton masterpiece transitioned from Chicago saloons to a racetrack—where it served as a grave marker for a horse—and eventually sat neglected at a shopping mall construction site, exposed to vandalism and the elements.
The sculpture’s 1988 rediscovery and subsequent restoration by the Smithsonian American Art Museum rescued the legacy of the first African American and Native American sculptor to achieve international fame. The work’s survival and permanent display at the Smithsonian serve as a vital correction to art history, honoring Lewis’s technical mastery and her defiant, realistic portrayal of the Egyptian queen’s mortality.