The Rape of Lucretia (also catalogued as Lucretia and Tarquin, Tarquinius and Lucretia, and otherwise) is any of several paintings, variations of the same subject, which are usually attributed to either Felice Ficherelli or Guido Cagnacci and dated to the late 1630s or about 1640.[1] [2]
The first and much the largest version is in the gallery of the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, Rome. It is traditionally attributed to Cagnacci, but more recent scholarship favours Ficherelli.[3] There is an autograph replica in the storage of the Florentine Galleries.[4] Another, smaller copy on copper is in the Wallace Collection, London.
The subject is the legendary rape of Lucretia, as recounted by the ancient Roman historian Livy; specifically the moment in Livy's account when Tarquinius has Lucretia cornered at sword-point in her bedchamber and threatens to kill and disgrace her.
The subject is from Livy's Ab Urbe Condita (1.57–9). Lucretia was a Roman noblewoman, wife of Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, famed for her beauty and domestic virtues. Sextus Tarquinius, one of the sons of Tarquinius Superbus, king of Rome, was so inflamed by her beauty and purity that he endeavoured to ravish her whilst enjoying the hospitality of his absent comrade, Collatinus.[5]
Tarquinius secretly entered Lucretia's bedchamber at night, wakening her with an announcement of the sword in his hand. After failing repeatedly to persuade her to his lust, he finally threatened to kill her and one of his slaves and lay their corpses naked together, falsely informing her kinsmen that he had discovered the pair in the act of adultery and so slew them; whereupon she acquiesced.
Having been outraged by Tarquinius, Lucretia faithfully informed her father and her husband, and, after exacting an oath of vengeance from them, stabbed herself to death. Lucius Junius Brutus, her husband's cousin, then led his kinsmen and their followers to overthrow the Tarquin monarchy and establish the Roman Republic. This story, which is also found in Ovid's Fasti, is the source of many Baroque works.
In the foreground of the painting, Tarquinius wears a gold-embroidered blue coat with the sleeves rolled up for the vulgar task ahead. Lucretia is abed, nude but for a small fold of her pinkish coverlet, and resists Tarquinius, who holds her with his left hand and threatens her with a dagger (resembling a stiletto) in his right.[6] She tries to use her arms defensively and a blush of mingled shame and exertion reddens her cheeks. There are pearls in her dark blonde hair. In the left of the background, Tarquinius's slave keeps sentinel, looking from a doorway.
The costume and interior have been updated from ancient Rome to the 17th century, transforming the scene into the recognisable bedroom of a modern Italian home. Aristide Sartorio (1911) provides the following, unsupported anecdote: "[T]he artist's daring innovation of robing Tarquin as a soldier of his day caused some astonishment among our forefathers then unused to such up to date freedoms." However, Titian's Tarquin and Lucretia of 1571 had also depicted contemporary dress. Francesca Baldassari notes the theatrical effect of the gold-fringed maroon and lilac curtains or drapes which frame the action like a play; also the position of the figures, close to the picture plane and slightly above the viewer's gaze.