Lucretia

Title

Lucretia

[cda 2022]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[typed on the reverse of a photograph, c. 1971; Koepplin Archive]

According to the legend Lucretia was raped by the son of the Roman king whereupon she committed suicide. The event led to the fall of the Royal house and the foundation of the Roman Republic.

The painting shows Lucretia as a standing half-length, semi-nude figure wearing a cloak. Her head is

According to the legend Lucretia was raped by the son of the Roman king whereupon she committed suicide. The event led to the fall of the Royal house and the foundation of the Roman Republic.

The painting shows Lucretia as a standing half-length, semi-nude figure wearing a cloak. Her head is inclined slightly to the left side of the picture and her eyes stare into a void. In her right gloved hand she holds the dagger with the tip pointing up towards her. It has grazed her just below the breast. Her left hand is not visible in the image. Lucretia is wearing a fur-trimmed cloak over a contemporary dress that has stepped sleeves with decorative slits. Her jewellery consists of a choker set with pearls and precious stones and her curly fair hair is covered by a pearl snood. A curtain hanging from a metal rod serves as a backdrop.

[cda 2022]

Attributions: Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder
Circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder	or anonymous pupil of Cranach [Handwritten note by D. Koepplin on the reverse of a photograph, c. 1971; Koepplin Archive]
Circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder	anonymous pupil of Cranach or workshop [Handwritten note by D. Koepplin on the reverse of a photograph, c. 1971; Koepplin Archive]

Production dates: about 1526 - 1537
about 1520

Production dates

about 1526 - 1537	[cda 2022]
about 1520	[Handwritten note by D. Koepplin on the reverse of a photograph, c. 1971; Koepplin Archive]

Dimensions: Dimensions of support: 33,5 × 27 cm

Dimensions

Dimensions of support: 33,5 × 27 cm
[Typed on the reverse of a photograph, c. 1971; Koepplin Archive]

Signature / Dating: none

Owner: Private Collection
Repository: Private Collection

CDA ID: PRIVATE_NONE-P561
FR (1978) Nr.: FR-none
Persistent Link: https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P561/

Provenance

Collection Palazzo Spada, Rome
Collection Charles Sharpe
[note on the reverse of a photograph, c. 1971; Koepplin Archive]
before 09.1971 with the art dealer Victor Spark, New York
[handwritten note by D. Koepplin on the reverse of a photograph, c. 1971; Koepplin Archive]

Research History / Discussion

This picture type was often employed by Cranach. It depicts Lucretia with the dagger in her lowered right hand and her left hand resting in her lap, concealing her prudenda with a garment or just her hand. A painting in a private collection [PRIVATE_NONE-P231] dated 1537 and attributed to Cranach the Elder bears the greatest similarity. Two other versions created between 1526 and 1537 that now only survive as fragments [CDN_BAG_1996-07] und [PRIVATE_NONE-P230] are also very similar. It can therefore be assumed that this Lucretia was created during the same period.

[Herrschaft, cda 2022]

D. Koepplin mentions another Lucretia in the Bayerischen Staatgemäldesammlungen that is by the same Cranach pupil [DE_BStGS_13256].

[Handwritten note by D. Koepplin on the reverse of a photograph, c. 1971; Koepplin Archive]

Lucretia, about 1526 - 1537

Images

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-P561/ (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-P561/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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