Explore the Similar work of this artwork, Lucretia (Rembrandt, 1666).
Rembrandt painted another depiction of Lucretia in 1664, now in the National Gallery of Art. It follows the iconographic tradition which shows Lucretia clutching the dagger before she stabbed herself. Rembrandt was known to have used family and friends as models for his paintings; the 1664 Lucretia is in the likeness of his daughter-in-law Magdalena Van Loo.There has been speculation by Sir Lawrence Gowing that the 1666 figure is not Lucretia, but in fact another Roman heroine, Arria, who stabbed herself to encourage her husband, Paetus, who was sentenced to death by suicide.
National Gallery of Art Lucretia Arria Lawrence Gowing Sir Lawrence Gowing Rembrandt Paetus