Description
The Story of Lucretia is a long wooden panel that Sandro Botticelli painted between 1496 and 1504: on a town square framed by marble palaces it tells, in three scenes, the Roman legend of the noblewoman Lucretia and of Brutus, who after her death called the young men to rise against the king. The original, in tempera and oil on panel, measures 84 x 180 cm and belongs to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Our painter hand-paints it in oil on canvas in 5 landscape sizes from 110 x 52 to 200 x 90 cm, or in a custom size. You receive a photograph of your finished painting before we ship it.
| Title: | The Story of Lucretia |
| Other titles: | Storia di Lucrezia (Italian title) · The Tragedy of Lucretia |
| Painter: | Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445–1510) |
| Year painted: | 1496–1504 |
| Original size: | 84 cm x 180 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Tempera and oil on panel |
| Painting style: | Early Renaissance |
| Located at: | Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, USA |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted in oil on canvas, 5 sizes or made to measure |
The Story of Lucretia – Sandro Botticelli
What does The Story of Lucretia show?
The scene is built like a stage. Tall marble buildings with columns, pilasters and gilded reliefs rise on the left and right, and in the middle stands a massive triumphal arch with three openings.
In front of the arch rises a tall dark column topped by a small white statue of a youth. On its base a warrior in armour and a red cloak lifts his sword. Below him a young woman in a green dress, her fair hair loose, lies on a bier. Young men in helmets and bright cloaks press in from both sides, swords raised.
In the left porch a man in a red cloak and armour seizes a woman in a green dress and pink mantle, who pulls away from him. In the right porch, behind a balustrade, the same woman collapses among men who hold her up.
What legend does the painting tell?
Botticelli painted a story that the Roman historian Livy recorded in the first book of his history of Rome. Lucretia, the noble wife of Collatinus, lived in the time of the last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus. The king’s son, Sextus Tarquinius, assaulted her, and she afterwards took her own life.
The painting brings three moments together in one view. On the left Sextus threatens Lucretia to force her compliance. On the right she dies among those close to her; the French article names her father, her husband and Brutus. In the centre her body is laid out in public on a bier, honoured as a heroine.
Over her stands Lucius Junius Brutus, urging the people to revolt and gathering an army of young men around him. He had sworn to drive the Tarquins out of Rome and never again to let anyone reign as king. From this uprising, the legend says, the Roman Republic was born.
The frieze over the left porch shows Judith and Holofernes, the biblical story of a tyrant’s fall; the one over the right shows Horatius Cocles, the warrior who defended Rome against Lars Porsenna and the banished king.
Why is the Botticelli Lucretia so well known?
Its theme is revolt against tyranny, a popular subject in the restless Italian republics. The statue on the column shows David with the head of Goliath, a symbol of resistance to tyrants in the Republic of Florence.
Botticelli makes no attempt to show the Roman Forum, where Brutus is said to have spoken. He sets the scene in a smaller town that trails off into the countryside behind, and none of the buildings are classical Roman.
It belongs to Botticelli’s late work, when his figures look small before grand architecture but stand out through strong colour and lively gestures. The way he uses architecture parallels Filippino Lippi, his pupil and the son of his own teacher. The English Wikipedia article, written in English and titled The Tragedy of Lucretia, gives more detail.
Where is the original today?
The original hangs in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Isabella Stewart Gardner bought it herself and owned it for the rest of her life.
According to the French article, the art historian Bernard Berenson advised Gardner to buy it in 1894. It was the first Botticelli to leave for America.
The panel was made as a cassone or spalliera panel, part of a painted chest or of wall panelling. The Italian and French articles pair it with The Story of Virginia in the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo: both were in the Vespucci house in Florence around 1500.
The Story of Lucretia or another Botticelli?
The Story of Lucretia suits buyers who love history and architecture: a tale in several scenes, read from left to right. Among the famous Botticelli paintings, it is a late work with a political subject.
If you like a story told in several scenes on a wide format, look at The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti, Part One too. Richly decorated late architecture fills Calumny of Apelles, where the figures crowd a marble hall, and the younger Botticelli, with a crowd of faces, is seen in the Adoration of the Magi.
Every Sandro Botticelli reproduction we paint to order is on the Sandro Botticelli page.
How do we hand-paint The Story of Lucretia?
Botticelli painted the original in tempera and oil on a wooden panel of 84 x 180 cm. Our hand-painted copy is made in oil on canvas, layer by layer, so it can travel rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed.
The painter begins by drawing the architecture, since every line of the walls, roofs and paving runs towards Brutus in the centre. Then come the sky, the landscape and the stone, and after them the gilded reliefs.
The figures come last: first the broad areas of blue, green and red cloaks, then helmets, armour and swords, and finally the faces and Lucretia’s loose hair. The result is an oil painting reproduction in which even the small scenes of the friezes stay legible.
Which size for which wall?
In short: the smaller sizes for a hallway or above a bed, the middle ones above a sideboard or sofa, the largest for a long living-room wall.
We paint The Story of Lucretia in 5 landscape sizes (width x height): 110 x 52, 130 x 60, 145 x 70, 165 x 80 and 200 x 90 cm. The original measures 180 x 84 cm (width x height), so the sizes from 110 x 52 to 165 x 80 cm are smaller, and 200 x 90 cm is a little larger than the Boston panel.
As a painting for the living room it works best at 165 x 80 or 200 x 90 cm above the sofa, where the reliefs on the arch can be read too. Above a bed or sideboard, 130 x 60 or 145 x 70 cm is enough.
Can I order another size, and which frame should I choose?
Yes. If your wall needs other proportions, we keep all three scenes and Brutus at the centre and adjust only the sky, the paving or the palace edges. Send us your custom size and we will quote the price and the delivery time for it.
The Story of Lucretia ships rolled in a tube, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed; our workshop in Slovenia stretches and frames every canvas painting and packs it with care. You choose the moulding in our 3D frame app, while seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
When will your Story of Lucretia arrive?
We paint The Story of Lucretia and get it ready to ship within 15 to 45 working days of your order confirmation. Once it is finished, you receive a photograph of it, and we make any change you request before we pack it.
The Story of Lucretia travels within Slovenia and to other EU countries without customs duties, and every order is covered by our returns policy.
For a lover of ancient history or Florence, it is a thoughtful gift. If you do not know their wall, give a gift voucher and let them choose the painting and the size.
Frequently asked questions
In which museum is the original?
At the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, in the United States.
What happens in the middle of the painting?
Lucretia’s body lies on a bier while Brutus, above it, calls the young men to rise against the king.
Is it a print?
No. It is a hand-painted reproduction: every figure, relief and column is put down with a brush by our painter.
How big is the original?
84 x 180 cm (height x width); our largest size, 200 x 90 cm, is slightly larger.
Do you paint it in sizes not on the list?
Yes. Tell us the width and height, and we will send a price and lead time.
How soon does it ship, and does it come rolled or framed?
It is ready to ship in 15 to 45 working days and leaves rolled, stretched or framed.
Would the Lucretia suit a bedroom or a living room?
In the Renaissance such subjects often decorated furniture in private rooms; today it looks best above a sofa or sideboard.
What does the statue on the column mean?
David with the head of Goliath was a symbol of revolt against tyranny in the Republic of Florence.
- Subject: three scenes of the Roman legend of Lucretia on a town square, with Brutus calling for revolt in the centre.
- Original: tempera and oil on panel, 1496–1504, 84 x 180 cm, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.
- Ours: hand-painted in oil on canvas, 5 sizes from 110 x 52 to 200 x 90 cm, or made to measure.
- Good to know: it was the first painting by Botticelli to reach America.
