Detail View: The AMICA Library: Lucretia

AMICA ID: 
MMA_.1997.153
AMICA Library Year: 
2000
Object Type: 
Drawings and Watercolors
Creator Name: 
Raphael
Creator Nationality: 
European; Southern European; Italian
Creator Role: 
artist
Creator Dates/Places: 
Italian, 1483 - 1520
Creator Name-CRT: 
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio)
Title: 
Lucretia
View: 
Full View
Creation Date: 
1483-1520
Creation Start Date: 
1483
Creation End Date: 
1520
Materials and Techniques: 
Pen and brown ink over black chalk, partially incised with a stylus
Dimensions: 
15-5/8 x 11-1/2 in. (39.7 x 29.2 cm)
AMICA Contributor: 
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location: 
New York, New York, USA
ID Number: 
1997.153
Credit Line: 
Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1997
Rights: 
Context: 

According to Ovid's 'Fasti' and Livy's 'History of Rome,' the noble matron Lucretia committed suicide after being raped by Sextus, the son of the tyrant Tarquin the Proud. Her husband, and later Junius Brutus, avenged her honor by leading a revolt that helped institute the republic as a form of government. The artist recast the heroic early Roman legend to focus on the rhetorical gesture of Lucretia as a model of sublime virtue, heightening the drama of her death. The pose for the monumental female figure was clearly inspired by a Roman sculpture. This is a major example of Raphael's draftsmanship, made during the period of his work on the frescoes of the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican Palace. The drawing shows Raphael at his most classical, having already absorbed the effect of the many Roman remains he encountered when he came to Rome in 1508. The sculptural grandeur and monumentality of form evident here reflect this experience.

Related Image Identifier Link: 
MMA_.dp1997.153.R.tif