Selbstmord der Lucretia
Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)

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.

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