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Cornelis Cort

Tarquin and Lucretia

c. 1571
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
42 × 28.8 cm (16.5 × 11.3 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

The fateful struggle between the lust-crazed Roman prince Tarquin and Lucretia, the chaste wife of another Italian ruler, inspired two engravings by Cornelis Cort after Titian’s well-known painting of this subject (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England). This engraving is oriented in the same direction as the painting, though with a more complete composition than the subsequently cropped original work. This impression is a fine, dark and early first state, before the artist’s signature and a poem were added at the bottom. Threatening murder and dishonor, Tarquin raped Lucretia, but her subsequent suicide fueled a rebellion against the monarchy, forever changing Roman history.

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