The Suicide of Lucretia
Medium
Engraving printed in black on buff laid paper
Dimensions
26.6 × 18.9 cm (10 1/2 × 7 1/2 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
26562
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
Israhel van Meckenem the Younger’s *The Suicide of Lucretia* captures a pivotal moment from Roman legend in a finely detailed engraving created between 1500 and 1503. The scene depicts Lucretia, a noblewoman whose violation by the son of King Tarquin led her to take her own life in an act of defiant virtue. Her dramatic gesture, often shown with a dagger at her breast, became a powerful symbol of honor, resistance, and the birth of the Roman Republic. As one of the most prolific engravers of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, van Meckenem helped popularize printmaking across No...
About the Artist
Israhel van Meckenem, the younger
Israhel van Meckenem the Younger (c. 1440–1503) was a German goldsmith and engraver who became one of the most prolific printmakers of the fifteenth century. Born in Meckenheim near Bonn, he was trained by his father, Israhel van Meckenem the Elder, who was himself a goldsmith and engraver. The younger Israhel may also have worked in the workshop of the Master E.S., whose plates he later reworked ...