As part of the cycle “The Cleopatra Mystery”, Agnès Noguera, trustee of the Fundación Libertas 7, presents the lecture “Cleopatra Mystery: the myth”, a journey through how the Egyptian queen became one of the great icons of contemporary culture.
In short: a visual journey through more than a century of Cleopatras -from Sarah Bernhardt and Elizabeth Taylor to the Cleopatras created by artificial intelligence- asking why, more than two thousand years after her death, we still need to imagine her.
Cleopatra, an icon of mass culture
In the late 19th century, Cleopatra began a new life. Photography, mass theatre and, very soon, cinema turned the ancient queen of Egypt into one of the great icons of contemporary culture.
From theatre to the big screen: from Sarah Bernhardt to Elizabeth Taylor
Beginning with the fascinating Cleopatra of Sarah Bernhardt and, in addition, the explosion of colour and sensuality of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, the lecture follows the queen’s successive transformations on screen: from Theda Bara and Claudette Colbert to the unforgettable Elizabeth Taylor, whose image would decisively shape our modern perception of Cleopatra.
A myth that overflowed the screen
However, her myth soon spilled well beyond the screen. Advertising, comics, television and video games transformed her again and again, right up to the new Cleopatras created by artificial intelligence.
Why do we still need to imagine Cleopatra?
As a result, this third lecture in the cycle offers a visual journey through more than a century of popular culture to discover how each era has reinvented Cleopatra, and to ask one final question: why, more than two thousand years after her death, do we still need to imagine her?
Cleopatra Mystery myth: date, time and venue of the lecture
📅 Date: Wednesday, 21 October 2026
🕖 Time: 7:30 pm
📍 Venue: Tapestry Hall, L’Iber Museum (Valencia)
🎟️ Admission: free, until full capacity.
About the speaker: Agnès Noguera
Agnès Noguera Borel, for example, holds degrees in Law and Art History and works as a financial analyst. She has been a trustee of the Fundación Libertas 7 since its founding and is a regular speaker at the L’Iber Museum. In this same cycle she previously gave the talk “Cleopatra Mystery: the legend”.
This lecture is the third instalment of the cycle The Cleopatra Mystery, which began with the inaugural talk “The Cleopatra Mystery” and continued with “Cleopatra Mystery: the legend”.
