Lucretia

Lucretia

Title

Lucretia

[http://www.museumhaldensleben.de/; 19.02.2011]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[cda 2022]

The painting depicts Lucretia as a half-length figure in contemporary dress. Her face is turned slightly to the left and she stares into the far distance. In her left, gloved hand she holds a dagger pointed towards her breast. Her right hand touches the bottom edge of the painting.

Lucretia

The painting depicts Lucretia as a half-length figure in contemporary dress. Her face is turned slightly to the left and she stares into the far distance. In her left, gloved hand she holds a dagger pointed towards her breast. Her right hand touches the bottom edge of the painting.

Lucretia wears a fur-trimmed overcoat. The parallel stepped white sleeves of a dress, which reveals her chest, are visible beneath. She also wears a necklace with pearls and precious stones and a large chain around her neck. Her curls are decorated with a hair band studded with pearls.

The background is dark.

[Herrschaft, CDA 2011]

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
Circle of or copy after Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[http://www.museumhaldensleben.de/; 19.02.2011]

Circle of or copy after Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Letter, D. Koepplin in the Koepplin Archive, 2008]

Master of the Mass of St Gregory

? [cda 2022]

Production date
1519 (?)

Production date

1519 (?)

[dated, probably not genuine]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 27.4 x 17.5 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 27.4 x 17.5 cm

  • Dimensions including frame: 37 x 27.5 cm

  • [letter D. Koepplin in the Archive D. Koepplin, 2008]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia top left: serpent with dropped wings and dated '1519' (not genuine)

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia top left: serpent with dropped wings and dated '1519' (not genuine)

Inscriptions and Labels

On the reverse: - handwritten: 'No 127'
[cda 2022]

Inscriptions and Labels

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • On the reverse: - handwritten: 'No 127'

  • [cda 2022]

Owner
Museum Haldensleben
Repository
Museum Haldensleben
Location
Haldensleben
CDA ID
DE_MH_VI-53-312
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MH_VI-53-312/

Provenance

  • 1877 a bequest from the Friedrich Loock Collection to the City of Haldensleben
    [letter to D. Koepplin in the Archive of D. Koepplin, 2008]

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Dorgerloh, Becker 2008
AuthorAnnette Dorgerloh, Marcus Becker
EditorBerthold Heinecke
TitleSammlers Arkadien: Landschaftsmalerei aus dem Besitz Friedrich Loocks.
PublicationIn: Arkadien und Europa. Tagungsband Schloss Hundisburg 27./28.04.2007
Place of PublicationHaldensleben
Year of Publication2008
Pages95 - 119
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
Hauer 2001
AuthorUlrich Hauer
TitleFriedrich Loock und seine Gemäldesammlung.
VolumeBd. 8 (41)
JournalJahresschrift der Museen des Ohrekreises - Haldensleben und Wolmirstedt
Place of PublicationHaldensleben
Year of Publication2001
Pages51 - 66
Show Literature
Wedepohl 1897 6
AuthorTheodor Wedepohl
TitleDie städtische Gemälde-Sammlung zu Neuhaldensleben
Place of PublicationNeuhaldensleben
Year of Publication1897
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

Koepplin assumes the artist's insignia could be a false one.

[letter from D. Koepplin in the Archive D. Koepplin, 2008]

Lucretia’s pose is similar to the versions in Grunewald (FR240Q) and in private collection (FR240K) but this version is mirror inverted painted and furthermore dressed in contemporary dress.

An unusual depiction of Lucretia holding the dagger in her left hand.

[Herrschaft, cda 2014]

  • Lucretia, 1519 (?)

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • overall
  • overall
  • reverse
  • irr
  • irr
  • detail
  • detail
  • other
  • other
  • other

Technical studies

07.07.2022 - 07. 2022Technical Examination

Support

- single board

- bevelled on all four sides on the reverse (c. 1 cm)

Ground and Imprimatura

- pale/white ground

- slight barbe (c.1 - 5 mm from the edge) visible

Paint Layers and Gilding

- opaque, black paint of th ebackground extends beyond the ground covering the bare wood at the edge of the panel

- flesh paint thin application without visible brushmarks

- brown underpaint for the hair, single hair strands appleíed with pale ochre paint

Framing

- not original

[Herrschaft, cda 2022]

12. 2006Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr

Underdrawing

- an underdrawing is not readily visible; a minor alteration to clearly define the form of the nose may reveal an underdrawing in a fluid, black medium with a brush

[Smith, Sandner, Heydenreich, cda 2013]

  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich

Versions

The suicide of Lucretia
  • The suicide of Lucretia, about 1520
  • NL_BMM_3467
  • Painting
  • Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, Rijswijk

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_MH_VI-53-312/ (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_MH_VI-53-312/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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