Lucretia 1528

Lucas Cranach the Elder painted this oil on panel image of Lucretia sometime in the 16th century. Lucretia was a noblewoman whose rape by a prince led to the overthrow of the Roman monarchy and the establishment of the Roman Republic. Cranach was court painter in Wittenberg, Germany, during the Reformation. So while this painting continues a classical narrative it also reflects contemporary concerns about female virtue. Cranach shows Lucretia at the moment she takes her own life rather than live with the shame of her violation, and it is an ambiguous image. Is it a straightforward warning against sexual transgression? Or does the artist intend for us to question the social codes that demand such a sacrifice? The image reflects the power relations of the time, but to understand the image’s politics more fully we would need to research the social and religious conventions around female sexuality in Reformation Germany.