Portrait of a Lady, bust-length, as Berenice, wife of Ptolomy III of Egypt. Gortzius Geldorp (Flemis

Portrait of a Lady, bust-length, as Berenice, wife of Ptolomy III of Egypt. Gortzius Geldorp (Flemish, 1553-1616). Oil on panel.

According to legend Berenice promised to sacrifice her hair to Venus if the gods brought her husband, Ptolemy III, back safely from war. As he was delivered unharmed, Berenice cut off her hair and placed it in Venus’s temple as promised but the hair disappeared. The belief is that it became a constellation in the night sky, known to this day as Coma Berenices, or Berenice’s Hair.