Erotic, dark, and compelling. A disturbing truth of this “Claustrophobic intimacy”.
The Rape of Lucretia was a penultimate event of Rome’s revolution to overthrow the last ever king of Rome Tarquin the Proud and his son Sextus Tarquinius, to change Rome forever. The kingdom was now to become a republic in 509 BC.
Sextus is the harrowing figure in blue, crawling and smothering ‘its’ self all over poor struggling Lucretia, who has been made vulnerable and defenceless in this barbaric situation.
I Don’t believe that the dagger is used as a form of threat towards Lucretia, but as a metaphor of how the attack felt and what became of her after. I myself can empathise with Lucretia through my experience, I can imagine how she felt from her attacker, as I was affected by mine. I understand how Lucretia was fooled by Sextus, how he seduced her to make her feel something special, only to be deceived as he used his body to trap her there, gripping her wrist binding her unable to move as he pushes his way inside of her, feeling like a dagger cutting her open from the inside. And when she cries out, he grabs her hair, as if the sound of her pain made it better for him. The painting captures the moment just before the attack. Creating a sense of horrific anticipation, speculating what the attack might actually be like… what Sextus might actually do to Lucretia.
The dagger also represents that Sextus might have well just murdered Lucretia and himself, as she “subsequently committed suicide” and the event lead to a “revolt” and the “establishment of the Roman Republic” ending both Lucretia’s life and the possibility of Sextus or his brothers being heir to the thrown of Rome.
Conflict is contrasted by the colours depicted in this piece. The whole painting is very dulled down tones and hues, blending in the background then you have two main colours of pale pinks portray innocence and sensitivity, not only of poor Lucretia in this sad situation, but goes deeper to symbolise the general people of Rome; then there’s the very noticeable, piercing ‘royal’ blue (emphasis on the royal) which Sextus is wearing. The blue is drawing your eyes straight to the action, straight to the profanity, straight to the abuse. It is prominent and you can’t un-see it. Sextus’s actions is a mockery to the whole of Rome, the people of Rome are sick of the way that the rich royals treat them and ‘penetrate’ their freedom and dignity, how they’re are just ‘raping’ their society.
Lucretia’s tender soft body is exposed, she’s naked, therefore she is not hiding anything nor has anything to hide. The curvy figure of the body and her fair skin emphasises her and nature and inability to defend herself or harm her attacker, even though she squirms with great struggle to get away, but she knows she’s fighting a losing a battle. Sextus is clothed and depicted in a way of sharp angles and lines. His clothes are that of wealth and riches, hiding a monster beneath. He moves in a way of aggression and frustration, dominance over the defenceless to gain power, but all he really gains is tyranny and disrespect from the people just as he disrespected them and especially Lucretia.
The figure in the background could represent Rome witnessing the sacrilege of Lucretia’s rape by Sextus, seeing the truth and making decisions…
“Rome wasn’t built in a day”, but its kingdom was defiantly destroyed in this action of blasphemy.
Bibliography
Britten,B . (1946) The Rape of Lucretia.
Ficherelli F . (1603-1660). (oil on tinned copper): The Rape of Lucretia.
Grimal, P (1963). The Civilization of Rome. London: Allen G. p97 - 100.
Lang, S (2006). European History. Glasgo: Wiley, J. p46.
Martini F . (2016). The Rape of Lucretia: A History of the Ancient Wife Who Changed the Destiny of Rome. Available: https://www.ancient-origins.net/history/rape-lucretia-history-ancient-wife-who-changed-destiny-rome-006799. Last accessed 16th Nov 2019.
The Wallace Collection . (2019). The Rape of Lucretia . Available: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-rape-of-lucretia-209688/view_as/grid/search/works:the-rape-of-lucretia/page/1. Last accessed 16th Nov 2019.
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