This drawing from Raphael's early Roman period reveals his extensive knowledge of antique Roman sculpture and literary sources. According to Ovid's Fasti and Livy's History of Rome, the noble matron Lucretia committed suicide after being raped by Sextus, son of the tyrant Tarquin the Proud. Her husband avenged her honor by leading a revolt that helped institute the republic. Raphael recast the heroic Roman legend to focus on Lucretia as a model of sublime virtue, depicting her about to plunge the dagger into her chest. The sculptural grandeur and monumentality of form speak to Raphael's familiarity with Roman antiquity. The proportions of the imposing idealized female figure appear to be those of the canon of antique sculpture.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
William Russell; his sale, Christie's, London, December 11, 1884, lot 410; Sir James Knowles (British); his sale, Christie's, London, May 27–29, 1908, lot 167 (to Dunthorne); Private Collection, Montreal; Vendor: Belle Arti (Swiss)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," January 5, 1997–March 8, 1998.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions," October 24, 2008–February 1, 2009.
Ottawa. National Gallery of Canada. "From Raphael to the Carracci: The Art of Papal Rome," May 29, 2009–September 6, 2009.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paper Chase: Two Decades of Collecting Drawings and Prints," December 9, 2014–March 16, 2015.
Winter Exhibition of Drawings by the Old Masters and Water-Colour Drawings by Deceased Artists of the British School. Exh. cat. Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1877-1878, fig. no. no. 632, ill.
Julien Stock "A Drawing by Raphael of 'Lucretia.'" The Burlington Magazine. Vol. 126, no. 976, July, 1984, pp. 423-24, fig. 49 (as Raphael), ill.
Marzia Faietti, Konrad Oberhuber Bologna e l'umanesimo 1490-1510. Exh. cat., Bologna, Pinacoteca Nazionale and Vienna, Albertina. Bologna, 1988, pp. 320-21, no. 98, pl. XXVII.
David Landau, Peter Parshall The Renaissance Print. New Haven, CT, 1994, p. 119, fig. 114.
Gunnar Eliasson, Ulla Eliasson Företagandets konst, Om Konstproduktionen i renässansens Florens. Stockholm, 1997, no. 9, ill.
Carmen C. Bambach, Colta Ives, Carolyn Logan, Nadine Orenstein, Perrin Stein "Recent Acquisitions, a selection: 1997-1998." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. 56, no. 2, New York, Autumn 1998, p. 18 (entry by Carmen C. Bambach).
Dear print fan: A Festschrift for Marjorie B. Cohn. Cambridge, MA, 2001.
Lisa Pon Raphael, Dürer, and Marcantonio Raimondi: Copying and the Italian Renaissance Print. New Haven and London, 2004, pp. 97-98 (note 6), fig. 49.
Jan L. De Jong "Dido in Italian Renaissance Art. The Afterlife of a Tragic Heroine" Artibus et Historiae. XXX, no. 59, 2009, p. 84.
David Franklin From Raphael to Carracci: The Art of Papal Rome. Exh. cat., The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Ottawa, 2009, pp. 70-72, no. 2 (entry by Carmen C. Bambach).
Carmen C. Bambach "Disegno, pittura e l'ideale del "ben finito cartone"." Il Primato del Disegno. I disegni dei grandi maestri a confronto con i dipinti della Pinacoteca di Brera: dai Primitivi a Modigliani. Ed. by Sandrina Bandera, Exh. cat. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, 2015, p. 20, note 42, fig. 2.
Carmen C. Bambach "La Lucrezia cristiana di Raffaello e la "Nobile Morte"." Lucrezia Romana. La virtù delle donne da Raffaello a Reni. Ed. by Mario Scalini, Exh. cat. Parma, Galleria Nazionale, 2016.
Paul Joannides "'Dido' and 'Lucretia': Raphael's Designs and Marcantonio's engravings." in Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester. vol. 92, no. 2, Autumn 2016.
Research Assistant Furio Rinaldi provides context for a drawing of the Roman noblewoman Lucretia by Raphael that is currently on loan to the Galleria Nazionale di Parma.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's collection of drawings and prints—one of the most comprehensive and distinguished of its kind in the world—began with a gift of 670 works from Cornelius Vanderbilt, a Museum trustee, in 1880.
