Lucretia

Lucretia

Title

Lucretia

[Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 534]
[copy of the Auction Catalogue Van Ham, auction No. 270, 21.11.2008, in the Archive D. Koepplin, 2008]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[Copy of the Auction Catalogue Van Ham, auction No. 270, 21.11.2008, in the D. Koepplin Archive, 2008]

The painting depicts Lucretia as a standing three-quarter length figure in contemporary dress.

Her face is inclined slightly to the right and her eyes are lowered. In her raised, right hand she holds a short dagger pointed down against her chest and in her left hand she elegantly holds an

The painting depicts Lucretia as a standing three-quarter length figure in contemporary dress.

Her face is inclined slightly to the right and her eyes are lowered. In her raised, right hand she holds a short dagger pointed down against her chest and in her left hand she elegantly holds an overcoat. This is green and trimmed with fur and covers both shoulders. Under the overcoat Lucretia wears a precious gold and red robe with puffed white sleeves, which is open to reveal her chest. To complement the robe Lucretia wears equally precious jewellery: a neckband studded with precious stones and a necklace with three chains. Her hair is pinned up beneath a bonnet.

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
Copy after Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Copy after Lucas Cranach the Elder

[handwritten annotation D. Koepplin to Van Ham on the copy of the Auction Catalogue Van Ham, auction No. 270, 21.11.2008, in the D. Koepplin Archive, 2008]

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 534]

Lucas Cranach the Elder , workshop

[copy of the Auction Catalogue Van Ham, auction No. 270, 21.11.2008, in the D. Koepplin Archive, 2008]

Forgery after Lucas Cranach the Elder

[written correspondence D. Koepplin and J. Herrschaft, 2011]

Production dates
before 1722
1548

Production dates

before 1722

[Herrschaft, CDA 2010]

1548

[The date on the painting is probably not authentic]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 77.3 x 53 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 77.3 x 53 cm

  • [copy of the Auction Catalogue Van Ham, auction No. 270, 21.11.2008, in the D. Koepplin Archive, 2008]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia at the right edge: winged serpent (with elevated wings) and dated '1548'

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia at the right edge: winged serpent (with elevated wings) and dated '1548'

  • [Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 534]

  • [copy of the Auction Catalogue Van Ham, auction No. 270, 21.11.2008, in the Archive D. Koepplin, 2008]

Inscriptions and Labels

in the bottom right corner: inscribed with an inventory number from the electoral collection: '351'
[copy of the …

Inscriptions and Labels

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • in the bottom right corner: inscribed with an inventory number from the electoral collection: '351'

  • [copy of the Auction Catalogue Van Ham, auction No. 270, 21.11.2008, in the D. Koepplin Archive, 2008]

  • When the 1722 - 1728 inventory of the electoral collection (Kurfürstliche Sammlung) was dawn up the numbers were applied in oil to the bottom right corner of the paintings.

  • [Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 137]

Owner
Private Collection
Repository
Private Collection
CDA ID
PRIVATE_NONE-P003
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P003/

Provenance

  • Electoral collection (Kurfürstliche Sammlung) Dresden, inventory from 1722 - 1728 (B 351)
    [Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 534]
  • 1769 sold to Carl Heinrich von Heineken
    [Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 534]
  • 1937, in the collection of Mayring, Nuremberg
    [Information on a glass pplate negative, SMB, Gemäldegalerie, Fotoarchiv]
  • auction, Fischer, Lucerne, 29.11.1966, lot 2107
    [Dorotheum online database: https://www.dorotheum.com/de/l/460441/; accessed 01.09.2020]
  • 21.11.2008 auctioned at Van Ham, Cologne
    [copy of the Auction Catalogue Van Ham, auction No. 270, 21.11.2008, in the Archive D. Koepplin, 2008]

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Auct. Cat. Cologne 2008 No. 270
EditorVan Ham Kunstauktionen, Cologne
TitleAuktionskatalog Van Ham, Auktion 270, 21.11.2008
Place of PublicationCologne
Year of Publication2008
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005 534
EditorHarald Marx, Karin Kolb, Ingrid Mössinger
TitleCranach Anlässlich der Ausstellung Cranach vom 13. November 2005 bis 12. März 2006 in den Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz. Eine Ausstellung in Kooperation mit der Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Place of PublicationCologne
Year of Publication2005
Show Literature
Kolb 2005 C 534, 565
AuthorKarin Kolb
TitleDokumentation zum Dresdener Cranach-Bestand
Publicationin Harald Marx, Ingrid Mössinger, Karin Kolb, eds., Cranach. Gemälde aus Dresden, Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz
Place of PublicationCologne
Year of Publication2005
Pages526-572
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

Research History / Discussion

It is noted in the Van Ham auction catalogue, that the painting was examined in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden under the direction of Fr. Dr. Karin Kolb to establish the authenticity of the signature, date and inventory number. The experts confirmed the authenticity. Thus the date of production is 1548 and it was executed in the Cranach workshop.

[copy of the text in the Van Ham auction catalogue 270, 21.11.2008, in the D. Koepplin Archive, 2008]

D. Koepplin on the other hand, as he stated in a letter to Van Ham, considers the painting to be a copy after Cranach, including a copied signature. D. Koepplin classifies the painting as a forgery executed no earlier than the 18th century on the basis of the stiff manner, which he claims to be incompatible with Cranach and his workshop.

[handwritten correspondance from D. Koepplin to Van Ham on a copy of the auction catalogue, 270, 21.11.2008, Van Ham in the D. Koepplin Archive, 2008]

[Corresspondance D. Koepplin und J. Herrschaft, 2011]

Koepplin’s assumption is logical for two reasons: on the one hand the signature is a winged serpent with elevated wings. By 1548 this type of insignia had not been employed in the Cranach workshop for at least 11 years. Since 1537 Cranach had begun signing his work with a serpent with dropped wings. On the other hand there are more than 45 known depictions of Lucretia that are partially very similar, but never identical. The present painting is – with the exception of tiny deviations – identical to a painting in the Kunstmuseum Nischni Nowgorod (Russia). The russian painting is dated 1535. Although the Cranach workshop kept templates and frequently reused them at a later stage it is unlikely that 13 years after a painting had left the workshop it would be reproduced identically.

A comparison with other Lucretia depictions shows that the workshop consistently adapted templates, which were frequently reused. Therefore this painting could be a copy (possibly even from 1548) after the painting in Russia, which is dated 1535.

[Herrschaft, cda 2010]

  • Lucretia, before 1722

Images

Compare images
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Versions

Lucretia
  • Lucretia, 1535
  • RU_SKNN_966
  • Painting
  • Nizhny Novgorod State Museum of Art
Lucretia
  • Lucretia, after 1548
  • PRIVATE_NONE-P534
  • Painting
  • Private Collection

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/PRIVATE_NONE-P003/ (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/PRIVATE_NONE-P003/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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