The Suicide of Lucretia
Giovanni Battista Pittoni the younger (Venice 1687 - Venice 1767)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1736 - 1739
Materials
Oil on canvas (oval)
Measurements
1380 x 1015 mm
Order this imageCollection
Basildon Park, Berkshire
NT 266908
Summary
Oil painting on canvas (oval), The Suicide of Lucretia by Giovanni Battista Pittoni (1687-1767), late 1730s. Lucretia lies against bank of cushions, the drapery falling away, right arm comforting woman bent over in grief, hands clasped to head. A second anxious woman to left looks on, and on right, Sextus, son of Tarquin (her rapist) stands in red cloak and helmet (although perhaps more likely Brutus, who discovered her, Tarquins' nephew, who later led a rebellion against his family. The story depicted is told in the Roman poet, Ovid's Fasti 2:831 and by Livy 1:58. In moulded gilt frame. Pair to NT 266903 (NT/BAS/P/11).
Provenance
Brunner Gallery, Paris 1921; Baron Michele Lazzaroni, Villa Madeleine, Nice by 1933; Pardo, 1951; Colnaghi; Lord and Lady Iliffe, Basildon Park, Berkshire; purchased by the National Trust, 1978
Makers and roles
Giovanni Battista Pittoni the younger (Venice 1687 - Venice 1767) , artist
References
Boccazzi, 1979: Franca Zara Boccazzi, Pittoni L'Opera Completa, Venice, 1979., no. 270, pp.185-186 Viana, 1933: Dirce Viana, 'Alcune opera inedite di Giambattista Pittoni', Bolletino della Società Letteraria di Verona, vol. 9 (nos.5-6) (1933), pp.175-177.