The Death of Lucretia

c. 1500/1503

Israhel van Meckenem

Associated Names
Israhel van Meckenem

Artist, German, c. 1445 - 1503

The illustration shows several figures, with three prominent individuals in the foreground and several others in the background. The main figure is a seated woman holding a sword, with only the upper half of her body visible. Her facial features are delicate, and she has ornate, braided hair. She wears a detailed, patterned dress. To her left stands a woman with similar clothing and a crown, and to the left of the standing woman is another woman with a headscarf. In the background, a group of men in armor is gathered, some wearing helmets and holding weapons, while a man in ornate armor appears to be gesturing. Beside them is a small dog. The background features Gothic architectural elements, with tall castle walls visible outside a window. The illustration suggests a medieval or early Renaissance context, with detailed textures in the print.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed within plate mark): 27 x 18.6 cm (10 5/8 x 7 5/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.165

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Lehrs, Vol. 9, p.406, no. 516, State only

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Charles Stonehill, London); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], 1938; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1967

  • Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., NGA, 1967-1968, no. 231, repro.

1970

  • Prints from the Rosenwald Collection, Charleston Art Gallery, Charleston, WV, 1970, no cat.

1990

  • Eva/Ave: Woman in Renaissance and Baroque Prints, NGA, 1990, no. 2, repro.

Bibliography

1908

  • Lehrs, Max. Geschichte und kritischer Katalog des deutschen, niederlandischen und franzosischen Kupferstichs im XV. Jahrhundert. 9 vols. and 1 plate vol. Vienna: Gesellschaft fur vervielfaltigende Kunst, 1908-1934.

1949

  • Hollstein, F.W.H. et al. German engravings, etchings and woodcuts ca. 1400-1700. 8 vols. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger, 1954-1868. Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700. Vols. I-XV, XVIII, XIX. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberge

1967

  • Shestack, Alan. Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. Exh. cat. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1967: no. 231.

1990

  • Russell 1990, no. 2.

1996

  • Hults, Linda C. The Print in the Western World. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996, 62-63, fig.1.47, 65.

1999

  • Wolfthal, Diane. Images of Rape: The "Heroic" Tradition and its Alternatives. Cambridge, 1999: 75, fig. 41.

Inscriptions

lower right, in image, in plate: Israhel V M; below image, in plate: Pro vere Lucretie pudor est decus in muliere / Quo malo convulso fetet pro minime grato (Through Lucretia's example, modesty is woman's ornament / To what end does the wicked ravish for such small gain) [translation from Alan Shestack, "Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe." Exh. catalogue, Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1967, no. 231.]

Watermarks

hand with flower (Lehrs 10)

Wikidata ID

Q64958449

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