Lucretia

Titles

Lucretia	[CDA 2010]
Suicide of Lucretia	[CDA 2011]

Painting on limewood (Tilia sp.)

Medium

Painting on limewood (Tilia sp.)

[Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, revised 2010]

The painting depicts Lucretia as a half-length, standing nude figure with an overcoat.

Lucretia has inclined her head slightly to the left and she stares into the far distance. Her left arm is raised and with her hand she touches her hair. Her right hand points the short dagger

The painting depicts Lucretia as a half-length, standing nude figure with an overcoat.

Lucretia has inclined her head slightly to the left and she stares into the far distance. Her left arm is raised and with her hand she touches her hair. Her right hand points the short dagger upwards and touches a point between her breasts.

Lucretia wears an embroidered fur-trimmed overcoat. Beneath this a transparent undergarment is visible. Her hair is pinned up and decorated with thin band. She wears numerous pieces of jewellery: a long thick chain, a chain necklace and bracelet.

The background is dark.

According to the legend Lucretia lived in the 6th century BC and was the beautiful and virtuous wife of the roman Collatinus. The roman King's son - Sextus Tarquinius fell in love with her. During a stay in her house Sextus threatened to kill her and shame her honour if she did not surrender to him. After the rape Lucretia had her father and husband vow vengeance and then she stabbed herself. The event led to an uprising in which the royal family was overthrown and the Roman Empire became a Republic.

Depictions of Lucretia who was seen as the epitomy of female virtue, chastity, fidelity and honour enjoyed great popularity, particularly in the 16th century.

[Literature: Bierende 2002, Follak 2002, Livius 1909]

Attributions: Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder	[Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, revised 2010]
Lucas Cranach the Elder	[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 118, No. 240H]
Circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder	'school of Lucas Cranach' [Yeide 2009, 238, No. A52]

Production dates: 1525 - 1550
1526 - 1537

Production dates

1525 - 1550	Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, reversed 2009]
1526 - 1537	[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 118, No. 240H]

Dimensions: Dimensions of support: 74 x 53.5 cm

Dimensions

Dimensions of support: 74 x 53.5 cm
[Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, revised 2010]

Signature / Dating: None

Owner: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
Repository: Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Location: Munich

CDA ID: DE_BStGS_13257
FR (1978) Nr.: FR240H
Persistent Link: https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_BStGS_13257/

Provenance

1929 D. A. Hoogendyk & Co., Amsterdam
[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 118, No. 240H]
[Yeide 2009, 238, No. A52]
16.03.1938 acquired by W. A. Hofer from the art dealer Paech (Amsterdam) for dfl. 8000
[Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, revised 2009]
[Yeide 2009, 238, No. A52]
19.03.1938 sold to Dr. Robert Ley for RM 15000 as a birthday gift for Hermann Göring (12.01.1938)
[Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, revised 2009]
[Yeide 2009, 238, No. A52]
collection Hermann Göring, Inventory of Carinhall 01.02.1940, No. 11; MCCP (Munich Central Colleting Point) number 5827
[Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, revised 2009]
[Yeide 2009, 238, No. A52]
26.04.1949 acquired by the prime minister (Ministerpräsident)
[Yeide 2009, 238, No. A52]
1961 transferred from the trust management (Treuhandverwaltung), transfer list No. 134..
[Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, revised 2009]
18.05.1961 transferred from State property
[Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, revised 2009]
[Yeide 2009, 238, No. A52]
Munich, Alte Pinakothek, storage
[Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, revised 2009]

See also Göring Collection in the DHM-database:
http://www.dhm.de/datenbank/goering/dhm_goering.php?seite=5&fld_0=RMG00516

See also the entry in the Lost Art-database, Stiftung Deutsches Zentrum für Kulturgutverluste: Lost Art-ID 391055; http://www.lostart.de/DE/Fund/391055 (accessed 17 Dec. 2019).

Literature

Reference on page

Catalogue Number

Figure / Plate

Exhib. Cat. Munich 2011

149

No. 13257

Author	Martin Schawe
Editor	Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
Title	Cranach in Bayern
Place of Publication	Munich
Year of Publication	2011

Show Literature

Yeide 2009

A52

Author	Nancy H. Yeide
Title	Beyond the Dreams of Avarice. The Hermann Goering Collection
Place of Publication	Dallas
Year of Publication	2009

Show Literature

Bierende 2002

Author	Edgar Bierende
Title	Lucas Cranach d.Ä. und der deutsche Humanismus. Tafelmalerei im Kontext von Rhetorik, Chroniken und Fürstenspiegeln
Place of Publication	Berlin
Year of Publication	2002

Show Literature

Follak 2002

Author	Jan Follak
Title	Lucretia 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 Publication	Konstanz
Year of Publication	2002
Link	http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-opus-9144

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Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979

118

No. 240H

Author	Max J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
Editor	G. Schwartz
Title	Die Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of Publication	Basel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication	1979

Show Literature

Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932

198k

Author	Max J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
Title	Die Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of Publication	Berlin
Year of Publication	1932
Link	http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/friedlaender1932

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Research History / Discussion

The panel belongs to a series of five representations of Lucretia, which were created about 1540/45 and tend to be attributed to Lucas Cranach the Younger. All paintings show Lucretia as a half-length figure wearing a fur-trimmed coat with her left arm raised to her head.

Another painting, which was also produced about 1540, is based on the same prototype (Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974, No. 586). However this painting depicts Lucretia as a standing, full-length, nude figure.

[Herrschaft, cda 2014]

Lucretia, 1525 - 1550

Images

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_BStGS_13257/ (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_BStGS_13257/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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