Lucretia

Title

Lucretia

[cda 2014]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[Yeide 2009, 233, No. A10]

The painting depicts Lucretia as a three-quarter length, standing nude figure with a view of a landscape in the background.

Her face is inclined slightly to the right of the painting and she looks at the viewer. Lucretia holds a long dagger in her right hand and with the

The painting depicts Lucretia as a three-quarter length, standing nude figure with a view of a landscape in the background.

Her face is inclined slightly to the right of the painting and she looks at the viewer. Lucretia holds a long dagger in her right hand and with the tip pointing upwards she has turned it on herself, while in her left hand she holds a transparent veil. This is knotted on her left shoulder and wound around her hips, but its transparency does not conceal her vulva.

Lucretia wears a richly embellished neckband as jewellery and her blond hair is pinned up beneath a net bonnet.

An interior is indicated in the background. On the right a dark curtain is visible, and on the left there is a window through which a mountain landscape with a castle and a small town can be seen.

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	[Annotation on the reverse of a photograph in the Archive D. Koepplin]
Lucas Cranach the Elder	[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 118, No. 240K]
Circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder	'wohl nicht Cranach' (unlikely Cranach) [Handwritten annotation D. Koepplin on the reverse of a photograph in the Archive D. Koepplin] 'Schule von Cranach' (school of Cranach) [Yeide 2009, 233, No. A10]

Production dates: 1525
about 1526 - 1537

Production dates

1525	[dated]
about 1526 - 1537	[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 118, No. 240K]

Dimensions: Dimensions of support: 39 x 26 cm

Dimensions

Dimensions of support: 39 x 26 cm
[Yeide 2009, 233, No. A10]

Signature / Dating: Artist's insignia on the windowsill: serpent (with elevated wings) and date '1525'

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia on the windowsill: serpent (with elevated wings) and date '1525'

Owner: Private Collection
Repository: Private Collection

CDA ID: PRIVATE_NONE-P067
FR (1978) Nr.: FR240K
Persistent Link: https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P067/

Provenance

formerly in the collection of von Grote, Berlin
[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 118, No. 240K]
after autumn 1967 sold by Kisters
[Handwritten annotation D. Koepplin on the reverse of a photograph in the Archive D. Koepplin]
Grote Family, Hannover, from 1905. (Johannes Hinrichsen, Berlin); Sold November 1935 for RM 8.500 to Goering; MCCP (Munich Central Colletion Point); 9 April 1949 to Ministerpräsident, 29 October 1964 to Walter Andreas Hofer for Emmy and Edda Goering [1]

[1] Göring Collection, DHM database: http://www.dhm.de/datenbank/goering/dhm_goering.php?seite=5&fld_0=RMG00470

[Yeide 2009, 233, No. A10]

Literature

Reference on page

Catalogue Number

Figure / Plate

Yeide 2009

233

A10

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

Show Literature

Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979

118

No. 240K

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

198m

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

Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

The painting of Lucretia in the collection of the Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten (FR240Q) is similar to this one, but this Lucretia does not wear a chain and the view of the landscape is on the left rather than the right.

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 118, No. 240K]

Lucretia, 1525

Images

Versions

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-P067/ (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-P067/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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