Lucretia
Jacopo Francia
c. 1510
Medium
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 25.7 × 17.7 cm (10 1/8 × 7 in.); Sheet: 26 × 18 cm (10 1/4 × 7 1/8 in.)
Classification
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
4272
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Lucretia was a famous Roman aristocrat who killed herself around 510 B.C. after being raped by Sextus Tarquinius, the son of the king of Rome, the tyrannical Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. According to Roman folklore, Lucretia’s fate ignited the rebellion, led by her husband, that overthrew the monarchy and established the Roman Republic.