Lucretia

1530
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 520
Lucretia was a beautiful and virtuous noblewoman who committed suicide in 510 bce after being raped by Prince Sextus Tarquinius, the son of the last Roman king. Her tragic death brought about the rebellion that established the Roman Republic. The subject of a secular story about ancient Rome, Lucretia was nevertheless admired for her chastity by religious writers during the Renaissance. She was both touted as a model of Christian womanhood and sexualized as an acceptable subject for artistic depictions of sensuous female nudes.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Lucretia
  • Artist: Daniel Mauch (1477–1540)
  • Date: 1530
  • Culture: German
  • Medium: Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens); pedestal: various pieces of dark colored wood, including pieces of ebony (Diospyros sp.)
  • Dimensions: Overall (statuette): 8 3/8 × 3 × 2 1/2 in. (21.3 × 7.6 × 6.4 cm);
    Overall (pedestal): 2 1/2 × 3 1/8 × 3 in. (6.4 × 7.9 × 7.6 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture-Miniature
  • Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.190.582
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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