https://www.gardnermuseum.org/experience/collection/10986
The Tragedy of Lucretia. Notes
This panel, one of two commissioned
about 1505 from Sandro Botticelli (1445-
1510) as a Florentine wedding
present, depicts the story of Lucretia as recorded by
Livy (59 B.C.-A.D. 17) in his
history of Rome (Ab urbe condita) LVII-LX.
Lucretia was considered one of the
finest examples of womanly and wifely virtues, hence the appropriateness of the
gift. Botticelli's masterpiece, now at the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum in
Boston, follows Livy's. narration very closely.
The first scene of the story is
seen at the left under the portico. The Etruscan prince
Sextus Tarquinius is molesting
Lucretia in her home. Note also the slave standing
to the far left; he is part of the
story as well. The narration then shifts to the right
portico where Lucretia collapses
before her father, husband, and their best friends,
Valerius and Brutus. Lucretia has
told them of her disgrace and has stabbed herself.
The final scene lies in the center
foreground of the painting. The townspeople of
Collatina and soldiers mourn
Lucretia, who is lying on her bier in the public square. Most notable is
Brutus, who stands above her and holds his sword up to challenge the monarchy
of the Tarquins and to avenge Lucretia's death.
Other scenes and figures in the
painting support the proposition that a republican
form of government is superior to
monarchy. Botticelli's Florence was undergoing a period of turbulence during
the reign of Lorenzo de' Medici, the domination of the Dominican friar,
Girolamo Savanarola, and the transition to a republican form of government.
First, on the top (small) frieze at the left, is a scene depicting Marcus Curtius,
a Roman soldier who sacrificed himself for the good of Rome in 362 B.c. (Livy,
VII.6).
In the larger frieze at the left is
a scene showing Judith escaping from the camp of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of
the Assyrians. Judith was long the symbol of the strength of the young
Florence, constantly opposing its enemies, who were presumed to be more
powerful. A statue of Judith stood in the Piazza della Signoria (center of
government) in Florence for many years until it was supplanted by
Michelangelo's David, a copy of which is still in the same location. Judith's
story of the virtuous underdog versus the belligerent tyrant can be found in
the fourth book of the Old Testament Apocryphal Bible.
A statue of David can also be found
in this pane of Botticelli's picture. He stands
atop the red porphyry column, which
is directly behind L Junius Brutus in the
center section of the painting:
Although it is difficult to see, Goliath's head sits on
the capital of the column just to
our left of David's feet. The red of the column
clearly symbolizes the blood shed
from David's time to that of Brutus in defeating
tyrants. David's story can be found
in the Old Testament, First Samuel 17.
Further, in the frieze at the right
there is a scene depicting Horatius Codes at the
bridge in Rome. The light tan
diagonal is the Tiber River. This story comes from
Livy as well (II.10).
Finally, in the lower friezes
between the columns before the triumphal arch at the
rear center, there are more scenes
from Livy (11.12-13). The frieze to the left shows the paymaster's tent in Lars
Porsenna's camp. The frieze to the right shows Caius Mucius, thereafter Scaevola,
and the fire into which he is about to place his right hand.
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