Zenobia was the daughter of the ruler of Armenia and was married to his nephew Rhadamistus. When the latter gained power in the kingdom, killing Zenobia’s family in the year 51, Parthian forces invaded the country. The king and queen fled on horseback but Zenobia, pregnant at the time, could not keep up. Rhadamistus then struck his wife and threw her into the River Araxes. She was discovered by shepherds and survived. The drawing is a study for a painting now in St. Petersburg.