Lucretia

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
AuthorMartin Schawe
EditorBayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
TitleCranach in Bayern
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2011
Show Literature
Yeide 2009 A52
AuthorNancy H. Yeide
TitleBeyond the Dreams of Avarice. The Hermann Goering Collection
Place of PublicationDallas
Year of Publication2009
Show Literature
Bierende 2002
AuthorEdgar Bierende
TitleLucas Cranach d.Ä. und der deutsche Humanismus. Tafelmalerei im Kontext von Rhetorik, Chroniken und Fürstenspiegeln
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication2002
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
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 118 No. 240H
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 67 198k
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1932
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/friedlaender1932
Show Literature

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

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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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