Lucretia

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Title	Lucretia
Artist	Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn
Date	1666
Institution	Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Location	On view at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, G311

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Lucretia:

GENERAL INFORMATION
Signed and dated in the lower left, this is one of two versions by Rembrandt of this tragedy (the other, dated 1664, is in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.).

STORY OF LUCRETIA
According to the account given by the Roman historian Livy, the story begins during the Roman siege of Ardea in the 6th century B.C., when the principal men of the army met in the tent of Sextus Tarquinius, son of the tyrant Lucius Tarquinius the Proud, and began talking about the virtues of their wives. They all then set out for Rome, intending to surprise their wives and, thus, test what they had been saying. Only Collatinus found his wife, Lucretia, spinning quietly at home with her maids. The other ladies were found dancing and reveling. The men then gave Collatinus the victory and returned to camp. A few days later, Sextus Tarquinius, inflamed with desire by Lucretia's virtue, left and returned to Rome, where he was welcomed by Lucretia by reason of his friendship with her husband. When she was alone, Sextus went to her bedchamber and threatened to kill her if she did not yield to him. She resisted, but he threatened to kill both her and a male slave and place their naked bodies together so it would appear that she had been caught in adultery. Fearing this form of disgrace, she yielded to him and afterwards informed her husband and father of the misdeed. To restore her husband's honor, as well as her own, she had her husband and father pledge an oath of revenge, and then she committed suicide. Outraged by this injustice, Lucretia's relatives and friends, headed by Lucius Junius Brutus, led a revolt against the Tarquins, which resulted in their overthrow and exile and the inauguration of the Roman Republic (509 B.C.).

The story of Lucretia may be mythological rather than historical, because there is no evidence that Lucretia actually existed. Nonetheless, the story represents a power struggle that occurred in ancient Rome which resulted in the toppling of the monarchy and the establishment of the first republic. Additionally, the story taught the value of virtue and honor and the significance of the family. In ancient Rome, Lucretia became a symbol of patriotism, chastity, love, and faithfulness. These qualities all had tremendous appeal to the people of 17th-century Holland.

It is possible, in fact, that the story of Lucretia may have also been used to associate the foundation of the modern Dutch republic with the foundations of the ancient Roman republic¹ In addition, it is likely that the story had personal significance for Rembrandt as well. Because Rembrandt painted several important family pictures (Juno, The Jewish Bride, and Family Portrait) during the mid-60s, as well as two versions of Lucretia, and because Hendrickje, his common-law wife, though deceased already, served as the model for the first version of Lucretia and one of the family portraits, these pictures have been related to the public ostracism he and Hendrickje Stoffels suffered. Taken together with the other family portraits he was painting at this time, Lucretia's story may have underlined for Rembrandt the tragedy of a family overtaken by traumatic circumstances. The Lucretia paintings may then be both a spiritual self-portrait of Rembrandt during this period as well as a eulogy to Hendrickje²

In this version of the painting, Rembrandt has pared away all but the psychological aspects of the event, stressing the introspective nature of the moment. All the tragedy and drama are concentrated upon the expression on Lucretia's face.

Strong highlights and deep shadows (chiaroscuro derived from the Caravaggisti)³ are used to enhance the mood. The important details—face, hands, wound, and dagger—are highlighted, and all else is left in shadow.

LUCRETIA
Colors are rich but subdued, predominantly golden and monochromatic in tone. Dots of white and yellow are used to enliven areas like her eyes; her white chemise serves to draw attention up to her face and set off the knife wound.

Texture is varied by a sketchy overall brushstroke which is and shows the use of scoring (in the brownish area around her shawl) impasto (on her right sleeve, for example), the palette knife (on her left sleeve, for instance), and scumbling (seen in the red under her eyes). Note the especially sensitive paint application in the face.
Composition is frontal, with a classical triangular balance. Lucretia fills the frame and is shown close to the picture plane, yet the aura of privacy is maintained by the averted gaze and slight inclination of the head.
Although the details of the space are not specific enough to indicate a bedroom, Lucretia is probably sitting on the edge of a curtained bed. The pull in her hand probably indicates that she was pulling the curtains around her as she was dying. It was also a convention of theater productions in the 17th century to draw curtains to indicate the death of the character.

Baroque Characteristics

Choice of most dramatic moment (in this case, the psychological climax rather than a physical climax.
Use of chiaroscuro to highlight emotion and drama.
Use of diagonal lines to heighten the drama.
Interest, however secondary, in delineation of various textures of cloth, gold chain, and pearl earring.
The placement of her hand on the cord brings her into our space and involves us.
The display of emotion (grief).

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Leiden, son of a relatively prosperous miller.
Originally a theology student, he soon turned to painting. His earliest known work dates 1625 and reveals the artist's penchant for Old Testament subjects.
1632, left Leiden for Amsterdam and became Holland's most sought-after portraitist. His style during this period was boldly painted, warmly colored, and emotionally dramatic. Married Saskia and began leading the life of a well-to-do citizen, amateur art collector, and artist-teacher.
1642, the year of Saskia's death, also began a period of financial difficulties; Rembrandt fell from popularity, yet these years represent his most productive ones in terms of drawing and printmaking (notably etchings). His style during this period became more somber, dramatically lit with strong lights and darks, and executed with more brown tones.
End of the 1640s, Hendrickje Stoffels came to live with Rembrandt as his housekeeper.
1654, Hendrickje Stoffels was publicly disgraced by the Dutch Reformed Church for her common-law marriage to Rembrandt and agreed to have their child baptized.
1656, Rembrandt declared bankruptcy but continued to produce individual, group, and self-portraits, as well as religious, allegorical, and mythological works.
1663, death of Hendrickje Stoffels.
1669, Rembrandt died in poverty.

TOUR TIPS
Use on the following tours:

Highlights of the Museum's Collection
European Art (14th-18th centuries)
Heroes and Heroines
Women in Art
People and Places
Visual Elements

Compare Lucretia to other more typical Dutch 17th-century portraits.
Compare the lighting of this painting to that of the Honthorst for an example of Caravaggesque influence on Rembrandt through the school of Utrecht.
Compare Lucretia to the Castiglione painting to compare the Dutch Baroque style to the Italian Baroque style.
Compare this psychological portrayal with other portraits, such as:
- the van der Helst
- Portrait of a Cardinal in His Study
- Lehmann's Portrait of a Woman
On a Visual Choices tour, compare Rembrandt's technique for depicting light to Van Dyck's or Daddi's, or compare his creation of real and illusionary texture to that of Van Gogh.

ENDNOTES

Rembrandt's Lucretia. Brochure produced by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1991, p. 9.
Ibid, pgs. 10-11.
The Caravaggisti were Dutch 17th-century painters whose work was influenced by Roman art, especially that of Caravaggio. These artists were especially drawn to Caravaggio's strong contrasts between light and dark, created by an invisible light source. The color scheme and the vitality and nearness of his figures also influenced these artists.

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: The Berlin Masterpieces and Some Paintings in the Institute

Through the current exhibition of Berlin Masterpieces visitors to the museum may, for the next ten days, become acquainted with the work of many great painters who have hitherto been entirely unknown to them or who have existed only as names. Others, because they are represented in the Institute's collection, will stand out with special clarity and significance, as the face of a friend stands out in a room full of strangers.With the thought that visitors might welcome the opportunity to comparing our paintings by certain old masters with works by the same artists in the Kaiser-Friedrich collection, a group of paintings by these masters has been installed in a gallery adjoining the exhibition. An examination of them will show that in every instance the Institute's paintings consort harmoniously with their peers from the Berlin Museum. It will also reveal numerous interesting parallels and differences in the work of certain painters and the recurrent popularity of various themes in European painting.The Institute's Patinir, for example, represents the same subject as the Kaiser-Friedrich Patinir: The Rest on the Flight into Egypt. The same general arrangement has been followed in both instances, with the Virgin and Child seated in the foreground of a landscape which recedes in a series of planes into an undefined distance; a landscape in which luminous greens, pale yellows, and silvery greys cast a cool light over a scene based partly on imagination and partly on exaggeration of familiar detail. In connection with the Institute's painting, it will be interesting to compare the Berlin Mourning Magdalen by Quentin Massys with the figure of the Virgin in The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, also from the hand of Massys.No such marked parallel exists between Rembrandt's portrait of Hendrickje Stoffels in the Berlin collection and the Institute's great Lucretia, yet Rembrandt's universal attitude of mind, his profound awareness of the mystery of life, and his special genius for illuminating the human spirit, are powerfully evident in both. The arrangement of the two figures is roughly the same but reversed, and the form of the paintings derives, as always, from Rembrandt's conception of his subject.Similar parallels and differences are to be found in the two Hobbema landscapes, in the Berlin Rubens of The Virgin and Child Enthroned and the Institute's Sketch for the Ceiling of Whitehall Palace, in the de Hooch interiors, in the Berlin Cranach Lucretia and the Minneapolis Cranach Judith, and in many others. Such opportunities for comparison add special interest to the Berlin masterpieces, as does the fact of their spectacular recovery from the Merkers salt mines by the U.S. Army; a circumstance that has insured their preservation as part of the cherished cultural heritage not only of Germany but of the world.Referenced Works of Art

Portrait of Hendrickje Stoffels. By Rembrandt, Dutch 1606-1669. Painted c. 1658-59. Collection of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum
Lucretia. By Rembrandt, Dutch 1606-1669. Painted in 1666. Purchased by the Art Institute in 1934 from the Dunwoody Fund
The Rest of the Flight into Egypt. By Patinir, Flemish, c. 1485-1524. Purchased by the Art Institute from the Dunwoody Fund
The Rest of the Flight Into Egypt. By Patinir, Flemish, c. 1485-1524. Collection of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum, Berlin

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Lucretia: Gallery Label - Current

: ArtsTalk: Behind the Scenes at the Institute

Patrick Noon was named the Patrick and Aimee Butler Curator of Paintings and Twentieth-Century Sculpture at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts in 1997. He joined the Institute after spending twenty years in various curatorial positions at the Yale University Center for British Art. Educated at Brown University and the University of Michigan, Noon has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and has written extensively about paintings, prints, and drawings. Arts Magazine recently caught up with Noon; the following is an excerpt from that conversation.Arts Magazine: How did you decide to come to The Minneapolis Institute of Arts after your long career at Yale?Patrick Noon: As you know, I was one of the founding curators at the Yale Center for British Art, an institution devoted to the appreciation and study of British culture. I felt that after two decades of commitment, including teaching, organizing nearly eighty exhibitions, and acquiring 9,000 additional works of art on paper, I had accomplished all that I had aspired to in that position. I was eager to work with an internationally respected collection of paintings from all periods and schools. My original training was in American and French painting, and my most recent research projects have focused on the relationships between artists working in different countries, especially during the Romantic era. So the opportunity to assume responsibility for the Institute's world-class collection was both timely and irresistible.AM: Describe the depth and breadth of the Institute's paintings collection.P.N.: It is a collection with tremendous breadth and areas of amazing depth. French painting has always been well represented, thanks to the founders and James J. Hill in particular. After that, one senses the impact of certain curators, directors, and trustees over the decades. We are very rich in Italian Baroque, Dutch, and paintings created during the crucial first decade of the twentieth century. We would welcome reinforcements in the areas of American nineteenth-century and French and British eighteenth-century painting. We should never lose sight of the fact that our dynamic collection must continue to expand through the addition of modern and contemporary works of the highest caliber.AM: Which paintings in our collection are the most historically significant?P.N.: That is a difficult question to answer. Courbet's Deer in the Forest is significant in the history of the Twin Cities because it was the first masterwork to be given to the Institute, even though it has no grand importance to the history of art. Poussin's Death of Germanicus, on the other hand, had a profound impact on the course of European painting over several centuries. Ultimately, every work of genius has historical significance in that it touches the lives of people in positive and lasting ways. At the Institute, we're blessed that a large percentage of our pictures fall into that category of excellence.AM: Do you have a personal favorite painting in the Institute's collection?P.N.: I would despair if I were limited to one personal favorite, but I do find myself constantly drawn to Rembrandt's Lucretia.AM: Was the restoration of the Castiglione painting a success? Were there any surprises? P.N.: The restoration of the Castiglione altarpiece was successful beyond even my enthusiastic projections. It was a triumph owing largely to the tremendous talents of our team of conservators, David Marquis and Joan Gorman. There were many surprises of a technical or art historical nature, the most significant being, of course, the discovery of Castiglione's signature, which until now had been obscured by overpainting from a prior treatment. We learned a great deal about Castiglione's technique and his bravura style, but what surprised and delighted me the most were the responses of our visitors. We had adults and children alike in rapt attention for long periods of time, bursting with gratitude for the rare opportunity to witness such a process. We might have had as many as 50,000 visitors during the six weeks of treatment, and countless more introduced to the project and the principles of conservation through our special Web site.Related ImagesPatrick Noon with Rembrandt's Lucretia.

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Iconography of Lucretia

The tragic story of Lucretia, which was recounted by the Roman historian Livy, occurred during the reign of the tyrannical ruler Tarquinius Superbus in Rome in the sixth century B.C. While away during the siege of Ardea, Ludretia's husband, Collatinus, boasted of Lucretia's loyalty and virtue, which he argued was greater than his compatriots' wives. Taking the challenge, the men rode immediately to Rome, where they discovered Lucretia alone with her handmaidens spinning wool, while the other wives were idly enjoying their leisure. Lucretia's very virtue, however, enflamed the desire of Tarquinius' son, Sextus Tarquinius, who returned without Collatinus' knowledge a few days later. Having been received as an honored guest, he later stole secretly to Lucretia's chamber, drew his sword and threatened to kill her if she did not yield to him. She resisted, but, when Sextus threatened to kill his own slave as well and place their naked bodies together to give the appearance that they had been killed in the act of adultery, she yielded to his demands rather than die in such disgrace.

The next day Lucretia summoned her father and husband to her side and related what happened, saying that her body only had been violated but not her heart. Nevertheless, despite their protestations of her innocence, she was determined to take her own life, saying: "Never shall Lucretia provide a precedent for unchaste women to escape what they deserve." Livy then relates that with these words Lucretia drew a knife from under her robe, drove it into her heart, and fell forward, dead.

Overwhelmed by grief, the father, husband, and two accompanying friends swore to avenge her death. Lucretia's death helped raise the populace's anger against the tyrannical rule of Tarquinius Superbus, who then left in exile. Sextus Tarquinius, who was also driven from Rome, was shortly thereafter assassinated. In Livy's account Lucretia embodied chastity, but her tragedy assumed wider political dimensions because she was also considered a metaphor for Rome itself. Lucretia's rape came to symbolize the tyrannical subjugation of the city by Tarquinius Superbus and his family. Her rape triggered the revolt that led to the overthrow of tyranny and the creation of political freedom in the form of republican government.

In terms of composition, the Minneapolis Lucretia is based on a painting of a totally different subject: David with the Head of Goliath by Michelangelo Merisi, called Caravaggio, 1605-1606 (Galleria Borghese, Rome). Both figures hold a knife or sword in their right hands, and gaze downwards in the same direction, their torsos illuminated. With her left hand Lucretia pulls on what is apparently a bell rope to sustain the same pose as David's as he holds up the head of Goliath. The compositional parallels between these works, and even the pensive moods of David and Lucretia, are so close that one can only conclude that Rembrandt must have known the work or a copy after it, which he adapted for his own purposes. Whatever the compositional or thematic connection, Caravaggio's image inspired Rembrandt to portray a moment that no artist had ever before depicted: Lucretia, in a moment between life and death, when she has removed the sword she had so recently plunged into her heart.

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Scale

Medium:

Paintings | Oil on canvas

Size:

43 3/8 x 36 5/16 in. (110.17 x 92.28 cm) (canvas)59 1/4 x 52 5/16 x 4 1/2 in. (150.5 x 132.87 x 11.43 cm) (outer frame)

Creation Place:

Europe, Netherlands

Culture:

Europe, Netherlands

Style:

17th century

Inscriptions:

Signature and Date LL: [Rembrandt f 1666]

Physical Description:

Allegory. Lucretia, portrait of a young woman, seconds after taking her own life, holding knife in right hand, blood-stained chemise, left hand grasps bell cord.

Credit:

Collection Minneapolis Institute of Arts; The William Hood Dunwoody Fund

Accession Number:

34.19

Artist:

Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch, 1606-1669

Role:

Artist

Nationality:

Dutch

Life Dates:

Dutch, 1606-1669