Lucretia

Lucretia

Title

Lucretia

[CDA 2010]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[Historisches Museum Regensburg, revised 2010]

The painting depicts Lucretia just before she commits suicide. She is shown in youthful beauty, well dressed and with her hair styled in contemporary renaissance fashion. Her splendid gown is open at the front, revealing her naked chest. She grasps the decorated handle of the dagger in both hands and

The painting depicts Lucretia just before she commits suicide. She is shown in youthful beauty, well dressed and with her hair styled in contemporary renaissance fashion. Her splendid gown is open at the front, revealing her naked chest. She grasps the decorated handle of the dagger in both hands and presses the tip against herself. The curtain behind Lucretia has been gathered to one side and grants a view of a castle complex. It could be interpreted as a king's palace within the context of the crime committed against Lucretia by Sextus, the son of a roman King: according to Livi in pre-republic (6th century) Rome the noble Lucretia was considered to be the embodiment of virtue. Raped by Sextus, she commits suicide to maintain her function as a role model.

[Historisches Museum Regensburg, revised 2010]

Attributions
Follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder

'Schule'
[Jehle, Exhib. Cat. Regensburg 2010, 511]

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Heydenreich, CDA 2010]

Production date
before 1553

Production date

before 1553

[Jehle, Exhib. Cat. Regensburg 2010, 511]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 62 x 41 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 62 x 41 cm

  • Dimensions including frame: 76 x 54 cm

  • [Historisches Museum Regensburg, revised 2010]

Signature / Dating

None

Owner
Federal Republic of Germany
Repository
Historisches Museum der Stadt Regensburg
Location
Regensburg
CDA ID
DE_BRD-HMR_L6337
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_BRD-HMR_L6337/

Provenance

  • Salomon Kohn Collection (?) (private collection, Switzerland) [1]
  • sold by the Galerie Schmidlin, Zürich, on the 5.11. 1942 for sfrs. 5.500 to Hermann Göring (Inventory: RM1240)
    [Göring Report, 115, No. 2] [MFA&A 239/159] [2]
  • MCCP (Munich Central Collecting Point, Nr. 6337); 20.04.1949 handed over to the prime minister (Ministerpräsident); Bundesamt für zentrale Dienste und offene Vermögensfragen, Berlin [3]
  • on loan from the Federal Republic of Germany

zu FR (sollte es sich um Nr. 358A handeln):

  • (1932) Van Diemen & Co., Berlin
    [Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 141, No. 358A]

[1]Göring Collection: DHM database:
http://www.dhm.de/datenbank/goering/dhm_goering.php?seite=5&fld_0=RMG00521
[2]http://www.badv.bund.de/DE/OffeneVermoegensfragen/Provenienzrecherche/Provenienzen/Daten/6000_6999/6337.html (accessed 30.01.2015)
[3][Yeide 2009, 389, No. A1254]

For further discussion see 'Description/Interpretation'

Exhibitions

Regensburg 2010, No. 351

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Regensburg 2010 511-513 No. 351
EditorChristoph Wagener, Klemens Unger
TitleBerthold Furtmeyr - Meisterwerke der Buchmalerei und die Regensburger Kunst in der Spätgotik und Renaissance
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2010
Show Literature
Follak 2002
AuthorJan Follak
TitleLucretia zwischen positiver und negativer Anthropologie: Coluccio Salutatis Declamatio Lucretie und die Menschenbilder im exemplum der Lucretia von der Antike bis in die Neuzeit
Place of PublicationKonstanz
Year of Publication2002
Link http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-opus-9144
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

Among the more than 50 representations of Lucretia within Cranach’s oeuvre only few are known, where she holds a dagger in both hands (e.g. FR122, FR240J).

However stylistically this panel is more similar to two paintings, which were created about 1529/30 (FR240B, FR237), and also depict Lucretia in a sumptuous gown standing in front of a window with the dagger pointing up towards her. Paintings in which the background is divided into a landscape and a curtain have generally been attributed to Cranach followers or circle of Cranach.

[Herrschaft, CDA 2012]

  • Lucretia, before 1553

Images

Compare images
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  • reverse
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Technical studies

2010Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • irr
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  • reverse
  • detail
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Support

- hardwood

- dimensions: 62 x42 x 0.8 cm

Ground and Imprimatura

- whitish, chalk/glue ground applied thinly

- the barbe has been retained on all sides

- there is a rebate of c. 5-10mm width around the edge

Underdrawing

Infrared reflectography carried out by Dr. Ingo Sandner and Dr. Gunnar Heydenreich in October 2009:

- greyish-black underdrawing executed with a brush

- visible pentimenti on the left in the wall

Paint Layers and Gilding

- the edge of the painted surface corresponds with the barbe of the ground

- oily-resinous medium, flat application, subsequent finer details and highlights in a water-based medium

- paint applied in thin glazes, at times stippled; pastose application to imitate different surface textures (fur, hair, puffed sleeves, jewellery, etc. ); smooth flesh paint

Varnish:

New, scant remnants of an old varnish

Framing

- new Renaissance style frame, second half of the 20th century

- 76 x 54 x 4 cm

  • written by Annette Kurella

10. 2009Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr
  • irr

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools / Materials:

- fluid black medium, brush

Type/Ductus:

- freehand underdrawing

- thin lines, predominately long and unbroken

Function:

- binding for the final painted version; lines delineate contours, define shapes and features; no representation of volume

Deviations:

- a few, minor alterations made during the painted version: hands and wall

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- workshop (Simon Franck?)

[Smith, Sandner, Heydenreich, cda 2012]

  • photographed by Ingo Sandner
  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich

Condition Reports

Date2000

  • the panel has been thinned; the edges haved been trimmed to straighten the panel and a cradle was attached to the reverse (6 vertical battens and 5 horizontal battens)
  • written by Yvonne Geisler

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Lucretia', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_BRD-HMR_L6337/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Lucretia', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_BRD-HMR_L6337/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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