Artwork
The Suicide of Lucretia
The Suicide of Lucretia is a wood painting by the Early Baroque Italian artist Jörg Breu the Elder. It dates from 1528 and is held in the collection of the Bavarian State Painting Collections.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting portrays Lucretia in the moment of self-inflicted death, a subject drawn from Roman legend that symbolizes violated honor and righteous suicide.
The painting portrays Lucretia in the moment of self-inflicted death, a subject drawn from Roman legend that symbolizes violated honor and righteous suicide. The composition includes the duchy of Bavaria's coat of arms alongside that of Baden, linking the narrative to contemporary political allegiances. Rendered in wood by Jörg Breu the Elder in 1528, the work functions as a history painting that merges personal tragedy with civic symbolism.
Technique & Style
The Suicide of Lucretia is a history painting executed in oil on wood, a support typical of German Renaissance panel painting. The work measures 103.5 × 148.5 cm, a substantial format that accommodates its narrative subject. As a history painting, it presents a dramatic scene drawn from classical antiquity, the suicide of the Roman noblewoman Lucretia, rendered with the detailed figural and compositional conventions associated with Jörg Breu the Elder's practice. The panel support and oil medium reflect the technical standards of early-sixteenth-century German court and civic painting.
History & Provenance
Jörg Breu the Elder created this wood panel painting in 1528. The work depicts the suicide of Lucretia and features the coat of arms of the Duchy of Bavaria as it appeared prior to 1623, alongside the coat of arms of Baden. These heraldic elements suggest a specific commission or intended patronage connected to these regions during the early sixteenth century.
The painting is currently held in the collection of the Bavarian State Painting Collections and is on display at the Alte Pinakothek.
The Suicide of Lucretia by Jörg Breu the Elder is held in the collection of the Bavarian State Painting Collections. The work is displayed at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. Created in 1528, this history painting on wood depicts the suicide of Lucretia alongside the coat of arms of the Duchy of Bavaria (as it existed until 1623) and the coat of arms of Baden. The panel measures 103.5 cm in height and 148.5 cm in width.
The provided sources do not contain specific inventory or accession numbers for the work, nor do they list any past or current exhibitions.
Context
Jörg Breu the Elder's 1528 wood panel 'The Suicide of Lucretia' entered the Bavarian State Painting Collections' Alte Pinakothek in Munich, where it remains on view. Early scholarship positioned the work within the artist's development as a pivotal example of German Renaissance history painting, emphasizing its dramatic narrative and integration of heraldic symbols from the duchy of Bavaria and Baden. Contemporary reception highlighted the painting's emotional intensity and technical execution, though modern analysis often contextualizes it within broader debates about narrative authority and gender representation in Reformation-era art.
The work's enduring presence in the Alte Pinakothek underscores its significance as a representative piece of the period's storytelling traditions.
Overview
Created in 1528 by Jörg Breu the Elder, this wooden panel presents a dramatic tableau centred on the classical heroine Lucretia. The composition unfolds within an elaborately decorated interior, populated by figures in sumptuous attire and armor, while architectural elements such as columns and arches frame a distant cityscape. The work is part of the collection of Munich’s Alte Pinakothek.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jörg Breu the Elder (c. 1475–1537), of Augsburg, was a painter of the German Danube school. He was the son of a weaver. He journeyed to Austria and created several multi-panel altarpieces there in 1500–02, such as the…
- The Flagellation
Singer
Massacre of the Innocents
Absalom propitiating friends (2 Samuel 15:2-5)
Königin von Saba vor Salomon
Rape of the Sabines
Nocturnal party and masquerade
The Legend of the King's Sons
Joseph going to prison
The Assassination and Funeral of Julius Caesar
Jephthae's Daughter
Saint Roch Distributing Alms