Titian (1490–1576)
Lucretia and her husband Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, c. between 1516 and 1517
Oil on poplar wood
Height: 82 cm (32.2 in); Width: 68 cm (26.7 in)
Kunsthistorisches Museum
Lucretia poised with a dagger, about to commit suicide, was becoming a very common subject in art. However, the addition of a male figure just behind her is all but unique. The Kunsthistorisches Museum now calls this figure Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, Lucretia's husband,[3] but the Royal Collection identifies him as her rapist, Sextus Tarquinius (known as Tarquin),[2] as do most sources.[4] Her husband was present at her death, according to most of the differing Roman accounts of the story, and Tarquin was not. If the figure is intended to be Tarquin, the setting must be the night before, with Lucretia perhaps making her plan. More on this painting
Lucretia (died ca. BC 508) was the daughter of magistrate Spurius Lucretius and the wife of Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus. The marriage between Lucretia and Collatinus was depicted as the ideal Roman union, as both Lucretia and Collatinus were faithfully devoted to one another. According to Livy, Lucretia was an exemplar of "beauty and purity," as well as Roman standards.
William de Poorter (1608–1649/1668)
Lucretia at work, c. 1633
Lucretia is weaving when her husband and Sextus Tarquinius enter
Oil on panel
Height: 44 cm (17.3 in); Width: 54 cm (21.2 in)
Augustinian Museum
Depicted people: Lucretia, Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus
Willem de Poorter (1608–1668) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. According to Houbraken he painted a very good Queen of Sheba, but he painted mostly still lifes.
His surviving paintings today are mainly small historical allegories and still lifes with metal objects. Though he has been considered in the past by (some) 19th century historians to have been a pupil of Rembrandt, he in fact lived and worked in Haarlem, not Amsterdam. He was registered as a painter in Haarlem in 1631 and in 1634 as a member of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke. The confusion about being a pupil of Rembrandt comes from an incorrect reading of Houbraken, who mentions him in the same paragraph along with two other painters. More on Willem de Poorter
While her husband was away at battle, Lucretia would stay at home and pray for his safe return. Depiction of Lucretia separates her from the rest of Roman women in a story about the men returning home from a battle. The narrative begins with a bet between the sons of Tarquinius and their kinsmen, Brutus and Collatinus. The men fight over which of their wives best exemplified sophrosyne, an ideal of superb moral and intellectual character. The men return home to find the women socializing with each other, presumably drinking and in conversation. In contrast, they find Lucretia home alone, working with her wool in silence. Because of her devotion to her husband, Roman writers Livy and Dionysus outline Lucretia as the role model for Roman girls.
Lucrezia, c. around 1580/1583
Oil on canvas
109.5 × 90.5 × 2.5 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, picture gallery
The image is probably the counterpart to the biblical Judith - both acts were repeatedly cited examples of female heroism. Veronese reinterprets the moment of action as a stage-like, decorative portrayal of the beautiful heroine. Only her face, shadowed by grief, and the dagger, which looks like a piece of jewellery, point to the crime that has just been committed. More on this painting
Paolo Caliari, known as Paolo Veronese (1528 – 19 April 1588) was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, most famous for large history paintings of both religious and mythological subjects, such as The Wedding at Cana and The Feast in the House of Levi. With Titian, who was at least a generation older, and Tintoretto, ten years older, he was one of the "great trio that dominated Venetian painting of the cinquecento" or 16th-century late Renaissance. Veronese is known as a supreme colorist, and after an early period with Mannerist influence turned to a more naturalist style influenced by Titian.
His most famous works are elaborate narrative cycles, executed in a dramatic and colorful style, full of majestic architectural settings and glittering pageantry. His large paintings of biblical feasts, crowded with figures, painted for the refectories of monasteries in Venice and Verona are especially famous, and he was also the leading Venetian painter of ceilings. Most of these works remain in situ, or at least in Venice, and his representation in most museums is mainly composed of smaller works such as portraits that do not always show him at his best or most typical.
He has always been appreciated for "the chromatic brilliance of his palette, the splendor and sensibility of his brushwork, the aristocratic elegance of his figures, and the magnificence of his spectacle", but his work has been felt "not to permit expression of the profound, the human, or the sublime", and of the "great trio" he has often been the least appreciated by modern criticism. Nonetheless, "many of the greatest artists ... may be counted among his admirers, including Rubens, Watteau, Tiepolo, Delacroix and Renoir". More on Paolo Caliari
While engaged in the siege of Ardea, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of Rome, sent his son, Tarquin, on a military errand to Collatia. Tarquin was received with great hospitality at the governor's mansion, home of Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, son of the king's nephew, Arruns Tarquinius, former governor of Collatia and first of the Tarquinii Collatini. Spurius Lucretius, father of Collatinus' wife Lucretia and prefect of Rome, made sure that the king's son was treated as a guest and a figure of his rank.
The Unannounced Return by Night of L. Tarquinius, Collatinus and His Companions to Find His Wife Lucretia Weaving, c. 1570
Oil on canvas
H 84.5 x W 103 cm
National Trust, Hardwick Hall
On the left are Roman architectural elements and in the foreground, bottom left is L.Tarquinius Collatinus in armour and plumed helmet mounted on a white horse with his companions standing alongside on foot, also in armour with shields, spears and plumed helmets. He arrives at the arched entrance of a palace, inside which Lucretia is seen, through an arched window, centre left, seated and working at her loom by candlelight. She appears a second time, to right, through a massive arch, standing at her loom, on her left shoulder rests the hand of a Sextus Tarquinius in doublet and trunk-hose typical of the 1570s who stands beside her. On a stepped courtyard in front of them are two dogs sniffing each other. The figures wear contemporary sixteenth-century dress. More on this painting
The artist, also called John Balechouse, a painter of hitherto uncertain origin worked for the Shrewsbury family at Chatsworth from no later than 1578 until after the death of Bess of Hardwick in 1608.
Tarquin and Collatinus, at a wine party on furlough, were debating the virtues of wives when Collatinus volunteered to settle the debate. In order to do so, he proposed riding to his home to observe Lucretia. Upon their arrival, she was weaving with her maids. The party awarded her the palm of victory and Collatinus invited them to stay, but for the time being they returned to camp.
Tarquin and Lucretia, c. 1663-64
Oil on canvas
126 x 98 cm
Private collection
Giordano's composition recalls a celebrated precedent, painted by Titian and known in several versions. Luca Giordano spent significant time in Venice perfecting his training, between 1650 and 1654, and he would certainly have been aware of Titian's painting (See below).
Luca Giordano (18 October 1634 – 12 January 1705) was an Italian late Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples and Rome, Florence and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain.
Born in Naples, Giordano was the son of the painter Antonio Giordano. In around 1650 he was apprenticed to Ribera, and his early work was heavily influenced by his teacher. Like Ribera, he painted many half-length figures of philosophers, either imaginary portraits of specific figures, or generic types.
He acquired the nickname Luca fa presto, which translates into "Luca paints quickly." His speed, in design as well as handiwork, and his versatility, which enabled him to imitate other painters deceptively, earned for him two other epithets, "The Thunderbolt" (Fulmine) and "The Proteus" of painting.
Following a period studying in Rome, Parma and Venice, Giordano developed an elaborate Baroque style fusing Venetian and Roman Influences. His mature work combines the ornamental pomp of Paul Veronese with the lively complex schemes, the "grand manner", of Pietro da Cortona. He is also noted for his lively and showy use of colour. More Luca Giordano
Titian (1490–1576)
Tarquinius and Lucretia, circa 1571
Oil on canvas
Height: 189 cm (74.4 in); Width: 145 cm (57 in)
Fitzwilliam Museum
There is no ignoring the brutality of Tarquin's act here. The tip of his tightly gripped dagger conspicuously catches the light. His sturdy, naked knee has broken free of its breeches and thrusts itself between Lucretia's splayed legs. He leans into her with all his ample weight, his left foot only just touching the ground. Titian suggests a tremendous sense of motion within the scene, with the swirling green curtain at the back and the almost blurred effect of much of the brushwork.
Meanwhile the look of surprise and terror on Lucretia's face is unmistakeable. Small, bright tears glisten on her cheek. Certain Christian writers condemned Lucretia for allowing herself to be raped. Titian seems unambiguous about her innocence. More on this painting
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio, or Titian (1488/1490 – 27 August 1576), was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school.
Recognized by his contemporaries as "The Sun Amidst Small Stars", Titian was one of the most versatile of Italian painters, equally adept with portraits, landscape backgrounds, and mythological and religious subjects. His painting methods, particularly in the application and use of color, would exercise a profound influence not only on painters of the Italian Renaissance, but on future generations of Western art.
During the course of his long life, Titian's artistic manner changed drastically but he retained a lifelong interest in color. Although his mature works may not contain the vivid, luminous tints of his early pieces, their loose brushwork and subtlety of tone are without precedent in the history of Western painting. More on Titian
Hans of Aachen (1552 Cologne - 1615 Prague)
Tarquin and Lucretia, c. around 1600
Oil on canvas
121×185 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, picture gallery
The Etruscan king's son Sextus Tarquinius tried to seduce Lucretia, wife of Collatinus, who was praised for her beauty and chastity. When he failed, he threatened to kill her and put a dead slave next to her to say she had been caught committing adultery. Lucretia gave in, was raped and shortly afterwards killed herself. More on this painting
Hans von Aachen (1552 – 4 March 1615) was a German painter who was one of the leading representatives of Northern Mannerism.
Hans von Aachen was a versatile and productive artist who worked in many genres. He was successful as a painter of princely and aristocratic portraits, and further painted religious, mythological and allegorical subjects. Known for his skill in the depiction of nudes, his eroticized mythological scenes were particularly enjoyed by his principal patron, Emperor Rudolf II. These remain the works for which he is best known. He also painted a number of genre paintings of small groups of figures shown from the chest upwards.
The life and work of Hans von Aachen bear unique witness to the cultural transfer between North, South and Central Europe in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. After training in the tradition of Netherlandish Renaissance painting he moved to Italy in 1574, for about 14 years, mainly working in Venice. He returned in 1587 to his native Germany. His final years were spent in Prague. The combination of the Netherlandish realism of his training and the Italian influences gained during his travels gave rise to his unique painting style. More on Hans von Aachen
After Guido Canlassi Cagnacci
The Rape Of Lucretia
Oil on canvas
47 x 64 1/2 in
Private collection
Guido Cagnacci, (January 19, 1601 – 1663) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, who produced many works characterized by their use of chiaroscuro and their sensual subjects. Cagnacci was born in Santarcangelo di Romagna, near Rimini. He worked in Rimini from 1627 to 1642. After that, he moved to work in Forlì, where he would have been able to observe the paintings of Melozzo.
In Rome he may have had an apprenticeship with the elderly Ludovico Carracci in Bologna. His initial output includes many devotional subjects. But moving to Venice under the name of Guico Baldo Canlassi da Bologna, he dedicated himself to private salon paintings, often depicting sensuous naked women from thigh upwards. In 1658, he traveled to Vienna, where he remained under patronage of the Emperor Leopold I. He died in Vienna in 1663. More Guido Cagnacci
Tarquinreturned from camp a few days later with one companion to take Collatinus up on his invitation to visit and was lodged in a guest bedroom. He entered Lucretia's room while she lay naked in her bed and started to wash her belly with water, which woke her up. Tarquin tried to convince Lucretia that she should be with him, using "every argument likely to influence a female heart." However, Lucretia stood firm in her devotion to her husband, even when Tarquin threatened her life and honor, while ultimately raping her.
The following day Lucretia dressed in black and went to her father's house in Rome and cast herself down in the supplicant's position (embracing the knees), weeping in front of her father. She asked to explain herself and insisted on summoning witnesses before she told them about her rape. After disclosing the rape, she asked them for vengeance, a plea that could not be ignored because she was speaking to the chief magistrate of Rome.
Lucretia's request for revenge is: "And, whereas I (for I am a woman) shall act in a manner which is fitting for me: you, if you are men, and if you care for your wives and children, exact vengeance on my behalf and free your selves and show the tyrants what sort of woman they outraged, and what sort of men were her menfolk!"
Cambiaso, Luca (Attributed to)
The Death of Lucretia, c. Last third of the XVI century
Oil on canvas
Height: 111.3 cm; Width: 100.3 cm
Museo Nacional del Prado
Luca Cambiasi, also known as Luca Cambiaso and Luca Cangiagio (18 November 1527 – 6 September 1585) was an Italian painter and draftsman and the leading artist in Genoa in the 16th century. He is considered the founder of the Genoese school who established the local tradition of historical fresco painting through his many decorations of Genoese churches and palaces. He produced a number of poetic night scenes. He was a prolific draughtsman who sometimes reduced figures to geometric (even cubic) forms. He was familiarly known as Lucchetto da Genova. More on Luca Cambiasi
Rembrandt van Rijn
Lucretia, c. 1664
Oil on canvas
120 x 101 cm (47 1/4 x 39 3/4 in.)
National Gallery of Art
On a later canvas (See below), the wound has already been inflicted. This can be understood by the spreading spot of blood, which can be seen on a shirt made of thin fabric. Lucretia can still keep straight, but very soon it will be beyond her power. She grabbed onto the elegant ribbon of the bell. But we can understand that the end is near, as the face has already become livid.
Rembrandt conveys his vision of a famous event. The artist masterfully writes all the details of the clothes from the luxurious material. If the painter depicted ornaments on an earlier canvas, now they are not. He decided to significantly reduce the details to give the image maximum simplicity.
The woman has a simple cut tunic. The suit is so strict that it is very much like a man’s. The streams of paint form folds of white fabric. Rembrandt depicts a man who has decided to commit suicide. More on this painting
Rembrandt (1606–1669)
Lucretia, c. 1666
Oil on canvas
Height: 110.2 cm (43.3 in); Width: 92.3 cm (36.3 in)
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Rembrandt tells the story of Lucretia through her solemn and saddened gaze, in the traces of blood on her gown, and the dagger in her hand.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669) was a Dutch painter and etcher. He is generally considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art and the most important in Dutch history. His contributions to art came in a period of great wealth and cultural achievement that historians call the Dutch Golden Age when Dutch Golden Age painting dominated Europe, was extremely prolific and innovative, and gave rise to important new genres in painting.
Having achieved youthful success as a portrait painter, Rembrandt's later years were marked by personal tragedy and financial hardships. Yet his etchings and paintings were popular throughout his lifetime, his reputation as an artist remained high, and for twenty years he taught many important Dutch painters. His self-portraits form a unique and intimate biography, in which the artist surveyed himself without vanity and with the utmost sincerity.
In his paintings and prints he exhibited knowledge of classical iconography, which he molded to fit the requirements of his own experience; thus, the depiction of a biblical scene was informed by Rembrandt's knowledge of the specific text, his assimilation of classical composition, and his observations of Amsterdam's Jewish population. Because of his empathy for the human condition, he has been called "one of the great prophets of civilization. More on Rembrandt
While the men debated the proper course of action, Lucretia drew a concealed dagger and stabbed herself in the heart. She died in her father's arms, while the women present lamented her death. This scene struck the Romans who were present with so much horror and compassion that they all cried out with one voice that they would rather die a thousand deaths in defense of their liberty than suffer such outrages to be committed by the tyrants."
Rosales Gallinas, Eduardo
The Death of Lucretia, c. 1871
Oil on canvas
Height: 257 cm; Width: 347 cm
Museo Nacional del Prado
Here the chosen episode was the agony of a virtuous woman whose death would have lasting political consequences. The suicide of Roman patrician Lucrece after she was raped by the son of the king of Rome led to the fall of the monarchy and the proclamation of the Roman Republic in the year 510 B.C.E. Thus, Lucrece was widely known in the Neoclassical era as the maximum example of virtue and marital fidelity.
Rosales’s scene is set in the intimacy of the married couple’s bedroom, thus emphasizing the eminently human character of a tragedy whose private nature grew precisely because its public repercussions changed the course of history and transformed the political system of the ancient world’s most powerful empire. More on this painting
Eduardo Rosales Gallinas (4 November 1836 – 13 September 1873) was a Spanish painter. He was an adherent of the Italian-based art movement known as "Purismo" and specialized in historical scenes.
He began his education in a private school operated by the Escolapios. He was orphaned as a teenager and enrolled in the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, where he studied under Federico de Madrazo in 1851.
Rosales accompanied some friends to Rome in 1857, without a fellowship or other financial support, until he received a special stipend from the government to continue his studies in 1861. There he began to associate with followers of the Nazarene movement, but soon abandoned his interest in them and produced his first important work "Tobías y el angel".
However, he continued to be interested in developing a more realistic style, which was achieved in his best known work "Doña Isabel la Católica dictando su testamento". He took it to the International Exposition (1867) in Paris and later returned to Rome, where he sent a telegram to his friends Martín Rico and Raimundo de Madrazo telling them that the painting had been an outstanding success, taking the First Gold Medal for work by a foreigner. He was also named a Chevalier in the Legion d'Honneur.
Rosales was in poor health, having had tuberculosis for many years. In 1869, he left Rome for good and opened a studio in Madrid. The harsh criticism he received for his work "La Muerte de Lucrecia" (1871) See above) left him discouraged and he never painted another large-scale canvas.
The following year, hoping to find a climate that would more amenable to his health, he moved to Murcia. Upon the declaration of the First Spanish Republic, he was offered positions at the Museo del Prado, which he rejected, and at the new Academia de España en Roma [es], which he accepted but never filled, due to his worsening condition. He died shortly thereafter, in Madrid. More on Eduardo Rosales Gallinas
Collatinus and Brutus were encountered returning to Rome unaware of the incident, were briefed, and were brought to the death scene. Brutus happened to be a politically motivated participant. By kinship he was a Tarquin on his mother's side, and a candidate for the throne if anything should happen to Superbus, who had taken his inheritance and left him a pittance, keeping him at court for entertainment.
The oath of Brutus after the death of Lucretia, c. 1884
Oil on canvas
Paris, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
Henri Ludovic Marius Pinta (15 June 1856, Marseille - 18 October 1944 Paris) was a French painter who specialized in religious works. He also created designs for mosaics and stained glass windows.
In 1884, he was awarded the Prix de Rome for his depiction of the "oath of Brutus" (See above) after the death of Lucretia. From 1885 to 1888, he was a resident at the Villa Médicis in Rome, under the directorship of Ernest Hébert.
The following year, he presented a "Saint Martha", which was criticized on the grounds that she was too coquettish. In 1887, his "Mass at Bolsena" (after Raphael) was deemed to have been derived from the least interesting part of the original. Finally, in 1888, his rendering of Aurora was rated as mediocre and vulgar.
Later, his works became more conventional in style and he concentrated on designs for church decorations.
In 1933, he returned with Champigneulle to the Basilica, designing mosaics for the choir that cover 120 square meters (app. 1291 square feet). The project took until 1941 to complete. More on Henri Pinta
The Death of Lucretia, c. 1763–1767
Oil on canvas
H 213.4 x W 264.2 cm
Yale Center for British Art
In the painting, you see Lucretia dying by her husband’s side, who is obviously emotionally distraught over her death. She has killed herself because she has lost her honor after being raped by the prince. One can sense the pain and anger, and perhaps even put themselves in the positions of the subjects of the painting. It is a heartbreaking story.
Gavin Hamilton (1723, Lanarkshire – 4 January 1798, Rome) was a Scottish neoclassical history painter, who is more widely remembered for his searches for antiquities in the neighbourhood of Rome. These roles in combination made him an arbiter of neoclassical taste.
By 1744 he was in Italy, and probably studied in Rome in the studio of Agostino Masucci. From 1748 to 1750 he shared an apartment with James Stuart, Matthew Brettingham and Nicholas Revett, and with them visited Naples and Venice. On returning to Britain, he spent several years portrait-painting in London (1751–1756). At the end of that period, he returned to Rome. He lived there for the next four decades, until his death in 1798. More on Gavin Hamilton
Aside from a few portraits of friends, the Hamilton family, and British people on the Grand Tour, most of his paintings, many of which are very large, were of classical Greek and Roman subjects. His most famous is a cycle of six paintings from Homer's Iliad, intended to have a pictorial impact equivalent to the epic grandeur of Homer as identified by Thomas Blackwell in his An Enquiry into the Life and Writings of Homer (1735), and also influenced by George Turnbull's Treatise on Ancient Painting (1740).[3] As engraved by Domenico Cunego and reproduced, these were widely disseminated widely and were enormously influential. Also influential was Hamilton's Death of Lucretia (1760s), also known as the Oath of Brutus. This inspired a series of "oath paintings" by European painters, which included Jacques-Louis David's noted Oath of the Horatii (1784). Like most later paintings of the scene, it placed it over Lucretia's dead body. In Livy it is made later, after the overthrow of the Roman monarchy.
Rape of Lucretia
Oil on canvas
H 225.3 x W 171.5 cm
Museum nan Eilean
The painting is unsigned but has been attributed to Andrea Casali, an Italian painter of mythological and historical themes.
Andrea Casali (17 November 1705 – 7 September 1784) was an Italian painter of the Rococo period. He was also an art dealer in England.
He was born in Civitavecchia in the Papal States and studied under Sebastiano Conca and Francesco Trevisani. Until 1738 he was a decorative painter of Roman churches and in 1729 was made a Knight of the Golden Spur; for this in England he would be called "the Chevalier Casali". He travelled to England in 1741 and stayed there for twenty-five years. He left England in 1766, after which he lived for some years at Rome, where he died in 1784. More on Andrea Casali
Collatinus, seeing his wife dead, became distraught. He held her, kissed her, called her name and spoke to her. After seeing the hand of Destiny in these events, Brutus called the grieving party to order, explained that his simplicity had been a sham, and proposed that they drive the Tarquins from Rome. Grasping the bloody dagger, he swore by Mars and all the other gods that he would do everything in his power to overthrow the dominion of the Tarquinii. He stated that he would neither be reconciled to the tyrants himself, nor tolerate any who should be reconciled to them, but would look upon every man who thought otherwise as an enemy, and til his death would pursue with unrelenting hatred both the tyranny and its abettors; and if he should violate his oath, he prayed that he and his children might meet with the same end as Lucretia.
The Oath of Junius Brutus, c. 1797
Villa Musée Fragonard, France.
Alexandre-Évariste Coccinelle Fragonard was a French painter and sculptor in the troubadour style. He received his first training from his father and drew from him his piquant subjects and great facility, perfecting them under Jacques-Louis David. His parents were Jean-Honoré Fragonard and Marie-Anne Fragonard.
He was born in Grasse, and died in Paris. More on Alexandre-Évariste Coccinelle Fragonard
He passed the dagger around and each mourner swore the same oath by it.
The newly sworn revolutionary committee paraded the bloody corpse of Lucretia to the Roman Forum where it remained on display as a reminder of the dishonor committed. At the forum, the committee heard grievances against the Tarquins and began to enlist an army to abolish the monarchy. Brutus "urged them to act as men and Romans and take up arms against their insolent foes" in response to the death of a dutiful wife. The gates of Rome were blockaded by the new revolutionary soldiers and more were sent to guard Collatia. By now a crowd had gathered in the forum; the presence of the magistrates among the revolutionaries kept them in good order.
Brutus was the Tribune of the Celeres, an organization of patrician families used mainly to ratify the decrees of the king. Summoning them on the spot, he transformed the crowd into an authoritative legislative assembly and began to address them in one of the more noted and effective speeches of ancient Rome.
Brutus Exhorting the Romans to Revenge the Death of Lucretia, c. 1814
Oil on canvas
H 116.8 x W 152.4 cm
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum
A severely neo-classical painting by a major figure of British nineteenth-century painting, later President of the Royal Academy. This shows a key moment in the development of the Roman Republic, Brutus is encouraging rejection of the Roman kings following the rape, and suicide, of Lucretia. More on this painting
Sir Charles Lock Eastlake PRA (17 November 1793 – 24 December 1865) was a British painter, gallery director, collector and writer of the 19th century. After a period as Keeper, he was the first Director of the National Gallery.
Eastlake was educated at local grammar schools in Plymouth and, briefly, at Charterhouse. He was committed to becoming a painter, and in 1809 he became the first pupil of Benjamin Haydon and a student at the Royal Academy schools in London — where he later exhibited.
However, his first exhibited work was shown at the British Institution in 1815, a year in which he also visited Paris and studied works in the Louvre. His first notable success was a painting Napoleon on Board the Bellerophon in Plymouth Sound. Like many other people at the time, Eastlake had hired a boat to take him to the ship on which Napoleon was held captive in Plymouth harbour. He sketched him from the boat.
In 1816, he travelled to Rome where he painted members of the British elite staying in Italy including fellow artists Sir Thomas Lawrence and J. M. W. Turner. He also travelled to Naples and Athens.
Despite being based predominantly in mainland Europe, Eastlake regularly sent works back to London to be exhibited, and in 1827 he was elected a member of the Royal Academy. Three years later, he returned to England permanently where he continued to paint historic and biblical paintings set in Mediterranean landscapes. More on Charles Lock Eastlake
He levelled a number of charges against the king and his family: the outrage against Lucretia, whom everyone could see on the dais, the king's tyranny, the forced labor of the plebeians in the ditches and sewers of Rome. In his speech, he pointed out that Superbus had come to rule by the murder of Servius Tullius, his wife's father, next-to-the-last king of Rome. He "solemnly invoked the gods as the avengers of murdered parents." He suggested that the king's wife, Tullia, was in fact in Rome and probably was a witness to the proceedings from her palace near the forum. Seeing herself the target of so much animosity, she fled from the palace in fear of her life and proceeded to the camp at Ardea.
Filippino Lippi (Prato 1457c. - Florence 1504)
The Story of Lucretia, c. 1478- -80ca
Tempera on wood
42 x 126 cm
Palatine Gallery
The subject illustrated, which praises the chasteness of Lucretia, was widely used to decorate the nuptial bedrooms in Florentine palaces of the 15th century, where there would be painted coffers, beds and bedposts. The panel painted by Filippino Lippi was part of one of these decorations and was combined with another panel - also by Lippi - showing the story of another Roman heroine, Virginia (now in the Louvre).
The painting of Lucretia’s death is a youthful work by Filippino Lippi and perhaps in terms of the composition, it was inspired by the work of his maestro, Sandro Botticelli (See below). Filippino gives the story a large dose of emotion and dynamic tension, although it shows some clumsiness in the perspective between figured and architecture.
In the left part of the panel, Lucretia is bloodless, with the knife in her chest, supported by her husband’s embrace, while in the centre she is laid out on a catafalque for her funeral. The scene is set out of doors, in front of a column topped by the naked statue of an armed youth of uncertain identity. Among the crowd in the centre, Lucius Junius Brutus is approaching. Together with Lucretia’s family, he will be seeking revenge for the woman, inciting the people of Rome to rise up, overthrow the king and proclaim the Republic. More on this painting
Filippino Lippi, (born c. 1457, Prato, Republic of Florence—died April 18, 1504, Florence) early Renaissance painter of the Florentine school whose works influenced the Tuscan Mannerists of the 16th century. After his father’s death, Filippino entered the workshop of Botticelli. By 1473 he had finished his apprenticeship. The style of Filippino’s earliest works stems from that of Botticelli, but Filippino’s use of line is less sensitive and subtle than Botticelli’s. In a group of paintings executed about 1480–85 he developed a harder and more individual style. Among the most notable works of this period is the Journey of Tobias (above). He was employed, along with Botticelli, Perugino, and Domenico Ghirlandaio, on the frescoed decoration of Lorenzo de’ Medici’s villa at Spedaletto and at the end of 1482 was commissioned to complete work left unfinished by Perugino in the Palazzo della Signoria in Florence. No trace of either work survives. Soon after (probably 1483–84) he was entrusted with the completion of the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel in the Carmine, which had been left unfinished on Masaccio’s death in 1428.
After his return from Rome, Filippino executed a fresco of the Death of Laocoön for the villa of Lorenzo de’ Medici at Poggio a Caiano, in which some of the decorative devices used in the Carafa Chapel are again employed, and resumed work in the Strozzi Chapel (completed 1502), the frescoes of which anticipate Tuscan Mannerism of the 16th century. More on Filippino Lippi
The Story of Lucretia, c. 1496-1504
Tempera and oil on panel
84 x 180 cm
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
The picture is a syncretion of scenes from different legendary themes in different time periods that Botticelli considered related. The topic is revolt against tyranny, a popular one in the volatile Italian republics. The main scene is given center foreground. It is the beginning of the revolution that created the Roman republic
In the centre of the picture Lucretia's corpse is on public display as a heroine. Brutus stands over her exhorting the populace to revolt and recruiting a revolutionary army of young men. There is much sword-waving. The dagger with which Lucretia killed herself is in evidence protruding from her breast. The statue at the top of the column behind Brutus in the foreground is David and Goliath's head.
The scene on the right porch is the death of Lucretia. The frieze over the porch depicts Horatius Cocles, a warrior who defended Rome against the intervention of Lars Porsenna and the ousted last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. The scene on the left porch is the threatening of Lucretia by Sextus to extort her compliance. He rips away her cloak, threatening to plunge his sword into her. The frieze over it depicts Judith and Holofernes, a tyrant decapitated by her after offers of seduction in the Old Testament. More on this painting
Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, known as Sandro Botticelli (1445 –1510), was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. He belonged to the Florentine School. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century; since then, his work has been seen to represent the linear grace of Early Renaissance painting.
Botticelli was born in Florence. He was initially trained as a goldsmith. There are very few details of Botticelli's life, but it is known that he became an apprentice when he was about fourteen years old. By 1462 he was apprenticed to Fra Filippo Lippi; many of his early works have been attributed to the elder master, and attributions continue to be uncertain. Influenced also by the monumentality of Masaccio's painting, it was from Lippi that Botticelli learned a more intimate and detailed manner.
By 1470, Botticelli had his own workshop. His work was characterized by a conception of the figure as if seen in low relief, drawn with clear contours, and minimizing strong contrasts of light and shadow which would indicate fully modelled forms.
In the mid-1480s, Botticelli worked on a major fresco cycle for Lorenzo the Magnificent's villa near Volterra; in addition he painted many frescoes in Florentine churches. In 1491 he served on a committee to decide upon a façade for the Cathedral of Florence.
Botticelli never wed, and expressed a strong disliking to the idea of marriage, a prospect he claimed gave him nightmares. More on Sandro Botticelli
A general election was held and the vote won in favor of the republic. This ended the monarchy, and during these proceedings Lucretia was still displayed in the forum.
There are no contemporary sources of Lucretia and the event. Information regarding Lucretia, her rape and suicide, and the consequence of this being the start of the Roman Republic, come from the accounts of Roman historian Livy and Greco-Roman historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus approximately 500 years later. Secondary sources on the establishment of the republic reiterate the basic events of Lucretia's story, though accounts vary slightly between historians. The evidence points to the historical existence of a woman named Lucretia and an event that played a critical part in the downfall of the monarchy. However, specific details are debatable and vary depending on the writer. According to modern sources, Lucretia's narrative is considered a part of Roman mythohistory. Much like the rape of the Sabine women, Lucretia's story provides an explanation for historical change in Rome through a recounting of sexual assault against women. More on Lucretia
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