De Lvcretia Collatini Coniuge · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: De Lvcretia Collatini Coniuge
Subject: Rape; Suicide; Honour; Dishonour; Rome
Period: 1500-1550;
Geographic: Rome
Description: Lucretia was deemed an the most honorable wife of Roman men, but when her husband entertained the guests that helped make this decision, one of his men made a dishonorable decision. He decided that he would rape her in the night, and used blackmail to get his way. When she agreed to die instead of of fulfilling his desire, he decided to then force her to have intercourse with him by saying he would kill a servant and blame it on her. She agreed to be with him rather than have an innocent man killed. In the morning, she fetched her family and confessed the sin, but then ended her life for committing what she considered to be a dishonorable act. In the image, she is seen stabbing herself in the breast in front of her family, husband and friends, ending her life.
Image Creator: Jakob Kallenberg (Engraver)
Type: Text; Woodcut engraving
Identifier: mta:18563
Language: lat
Source Name: Ioannis Boccatii de Certaldo Insigne Opvs de Claris Mulieribus
Parent Collection: 1539 Apiarius; 1539 Apiarius
Image: mta_18563_OBJ.png
Collection: Early Modern Women
Subject: Rape; Suicide; Honour; Dishonour; Rome