Lucretia
Guido Reni·1636
Historical Context
Lucretia at the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo, painted around 1636, is another treatment of the Roman heroine's noble suicide. Reni returned to this subject repeatedly, drawn to its combination of feminine beauty and virtuous sacrifice. Guido Reni's refined classicism and ethereal beauty made him one of the most celebrated painters in Europe during his lifetime, his graceful idealized figures expressing a spirituality that appealed equally to Counter-Reformation piety and aristocratic aesthetic sensibility.
Technical Analysis
The dying woman's luminous beauty is heightened by the dramatic contrast with the dagger. Reni's mature handling creates a composition of refined tragic beauty.
