Lucretia

Title

Lucretia

[cda 2022]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[Dorotheum online database, accessed 11.10.2022] (https://www.dorotheum.com/de/l/460441/)

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]

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 against her chest and with her left hand she covers her shoulders with a green fur-trimmed overcoat. The red and gold dress with puffed sleeves Lucretia wears underneath her coat is open to reveal her chest. To complement the dress Lucretia is adorned with 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.

[cda 2022]

Attributions: Copy after Lucas Cranach the Elder
Follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Copy after Lucas Cranach the Elder	[cda 2022]
Follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder	[Dorotheum online database, accessed 11.10.2022] (https://www.dorotheum.com/de/l/460441/)

Production dates: after 1548
1548

Production dates

after 1548	[cda 2022]
1548	[not genuine]

Dimensions: Dimensions of support: 80 × 53 cm

Dimensions

Dimensions of support: 80 × 53 cm
[Dorotheum online database, accessed 11.10.2022] (https://www.dorotheum.com/de/l/460441/)

Signature / Dating: Artist's insignia at the right edge: serpent with elevated wings and dated '1548' (not genuine)

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia at the right edge: serpent with elevated wings and dated '1548' (not genuine)

Owner: Private Collection
Repository: Private Collection

CDA ID: PRIVATE_NONE-P534
FR (1978) Nr.: FR-none
Persistent Link: https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P534/

Provenance

auction, Fischer, Lucerne, 29.11.1966, lot 2107
private collection, Vienna
auction, Dorotheum, 17.10.2017, lot 210
[Dorotheum online database, accessed 11.10.2022] (https://www.dorotheum.com/de/l/460441/)

Literature

Reference on page

Catalogue Number

Figure / Plate

Auct. Cat. Cologne 2008

No. 270

Editor	Van Ham Kunstauktionen, Cologne
Title	Auktionskatalog Van Ham, Auktion 270, 21.11.2008
Place of Publication	Cologne
Year of Publication	2008

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Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005

534

Editor	Harald Marx, Karin Kolb, Ingrid Mössinger
Title	Cranach 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 Publication	Cologne
Year of Publication	2005

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Kolb 2005 C

534, 565

Author	Karin Kolb
Title	Dokumentation zum Dresdener Cranach-Bestand
Publication	in Harald Marx, Ingrid Mössinger, Karin Kolb, eds., Cranach. Gemälde aus Dresden, Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz
Place of Publication	Cologne
Year of Publication	2005
Pages	526-572

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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

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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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Research History / Discussion

Another version of this subject was auctioned at Van Ham in 2008 [PRIVATE_NONE-P003]. The Lucretia in the museum Nischni Nowgorod [RU_SKNN_966] appears to have been the prototype for both of these versions.

[cda 2022]

Lucretia, after 1548

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-P534/ (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-P534/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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