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The Virtue of Lucretia

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The Virtue of Lucretia

Artist Giuseppe Cades (Italian, 1750-1799)
Place of OriginItaly
Dateabout 1774-1782
DimensionsH: 39 in. (99 cm); W: 53 1/8 in. (135 cm)
MediumOil on canvas
ClassificationPaintings
Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
2000.29
Not on View
Label TextThe subject of this canvas derives from the Roman legend of Lucretia (center), the virtuous heroine from antiquity celebrated for her fidelity and marital chastity. Giuseppe Cades represents a moment in the story when Lucretia’s husband, the Roman consul Collatinus (shown clasping her hand), surprises his wife while she and her maidens knit cloaks for the soldiers on the battlefield. The unexpected visit proves Lucretia’s virtue and fidelity. However, the surprise encounter also sparks an ill-fated lust in the heart of Sextus Tarquinius, son of the Etruscan king of Rome and Collatinus’s one-time ally. Cades depicts him leering with envy at Lucretia’s captivating beauty. According to the story, Lucretia was subsequently raped by Sextus Tarquinius. Preferring death to dishonor, Lucretia committed suicide after relating the traumatic event to her husband and father. Her kinsmen avenged Lucretia by overthrowing the Etruscan rulers and subsequently established the Roman Republic.Published ReferencesMesuret, Robert M., "La collection du Baron de Puymaurin en 1792," L'Auta, 1948, p. 5.

Mesuret, Robert M., Les expositions de l'Académie Royale de Toulouse de 1751 à 1791: Liverts publiés et annotés, Toulouse, 1792, p. 524, no. 87 (60640).

Carracciolo, Maria Teresa, "Storia antica e mitologia nee'arte di Giuseppe Cades," Quaderni sul Neoclassico, 4, 1978, pp. 74-76, (figs. 1-2).

Caracciolo, Maria Teresa, "Giuseppe Cades (1750-1799): L'expérience française d'un peinture romain," Revue du Louvre, 5/6, 1984, 353-358, (fig. 3.)

Caracciolo, Maria Teresa, Giuseppe Cades (1750-1799) et la Rome de son temps, Paris, 1992, pp. 55-56, 187-188 (cat. 17 and fig.).

Caracciolo, Maria Teresa, "Cades, Giuseppe," in The Dictionary of Art, ed. Jane Turner, 1996, p. 366.

"La Chronique des arts," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 137, no. 1586, Mar. 2001, repr. p. 51.

"A selection of 2000 museum acquisitions," Apollo, vol. 152, no. 466, Dec. 2000, repr. p. 34 (col.).

[Advertisement for Piana] La Gazette de L'Hotel Drouot, vol. 108, no. 11, Mar. 12, 1999, repr. p. II (col.).

Papon, Claire, "Tableaux anciens, de Monnoyer à Patel," Gazette de L'Hotel Drouot, no. 13, Mar. 26, 1999, p. 11.

"550 000F une 'Adoration des bergers,'" Gazette de L'Hotel Drouot, vol. 108, no. 15, Apr. 9, 1999, p. 20.

"La vertu de Lucrèce," Gazette de l'Hôtel Drouot, no. 15, Apr 1999, p. 21, repr.

Exhibition HistoryToulouse, Exposition de l'Académie Royale de Toulouse, 1789, no. 87.
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