Tarquin and Lucretia

As Norgate explained in his treatise, such subject miniatures were unknown in England until 'of late years it pleased a most excellent King to command...some of his own pieces, of Titian...to be translated into English limning, which indeed were admirably performed by his Servant, Mr Peter Oliver'. Charles I (ruled 1625-1649) was a great connoisseur and collector. He had a magnificent collection of oil paintings. His command to have them copied in miniature reflects the value he placed on both his collection and miniature painting, a highly prized and exquisite watercolour art.

This miniature is a copy of a picture that was in the collection of Charles I and is now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Charles I employed the Dutch wax-modeller Abraham van der Doort (born around 1575-1580, died 1640) to look after his collection of paintings. Van der Doort described the painting as by Titian, the Venetian painter (possibly born around 1485, died 1576). It has recently been suggested that the painting may be by Palma Vecchio (born around 1479, died 1528). Interestingly, the original oil has been repainted at some point so that Lucretia's chemise covers her breast.

Subject Depicted

The subject is taken from ancient Roman history. Lucretia informed her family that she had been raped by Tarquin, son of the Roman tyrant. She then virtuously took her own life. The incident led to a rebellion against Tarquin's family.