History is not without its flaws, and the dearth of observable materials with relative significance makes this venture a more difficult analysis to pursue. Thus, stringing these various aforementioned elements will help make necessary assumptions in order to produce a comprehensive analysis of the subject matter.
Acquired by the State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg) in 1929, the majestic countenance of the model character in the carving is evidently representative of a regal status. A very basic analysis of the statue reveals a striding woman in a long tight-fitting transparent dress. She is also wearing a long conventional Egyptian wig with a snake regalia embedded on the crown of the apparel. Her left hand is featured holding a horn filled with various items, and on her right hand she holds another object in a lowered position. These preliminary myopic assessments inform features that are overwhelmingly typical of an Egyptian-originated piece of art. Further informed analysis would first of all highlight the significance of the attire. Schiff (2010) asserts that the attire adorned by the queen represents what a Ptolemaic queen would normally wear during public displays of munificence. Indeed, this fact would create the first controversies surrounding this particular ancient relic. It was initially thought to depict Arsinoë II (c.316 BC–270 B.C.), sister and wife of Ptolemy II, whom Cleopatra saw as a role model. "The attribution was based on the fact that the left hand holds a dikeras (a divided or double cornucopia), which was presumed to be specific only to Arsinoë (although it also appears on the coins of Cleopatra)" (University of Chicago). However, the royal symbol on the crown of the wig goes to vastly disprove this assertion. The Uraeus (royal cobra-head symbol) functions as a symbol of Egyptian royalty.
