Selbstmord der Lucretia,

1518

Material / Technology / Carrier

Lindenholz (Tilia sp.)

Dimensions of the object

168 x 74 cm

Displayed

AP OG Saal V

Department

Altdeutsche Malerei

Genre

Malerei

Inventory number

705

Acquisition

Aus der Herzoglichen Kunstkammer München; erworben vor 1598

Stock

Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Alte Pinakothek München

Citation

Albrecht Dürer, Selbstmord der Lucretia, 1518, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Alte Pinakothek München, URL: https://www.sammlung.pinakothek.de/en/artwork/k2xnBjAxPd (Last updated on 22.01.2024)

Sextus Tarquinius, the son of the king of Rome, raped Lucretia, the wife of the military commander Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus. After telling her husband and her father she took her own life (Livy, Ab urbe condita). With this work Dürer created both a monument to a woman who was worshipped as a ‘virtuous heroine’ and whose deed led to the end of the Roman monarchy and the beginning of the republic. Dürer did in fact have recourse to a drawing that shows Lucretia standing on a pedestal like a statue.