Eduardo Rosales Gallinas: The death of Lucretia (1871)

(Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain)

A painting by the Spanish artist Eduardo Rosales Gallinas (1836-1873). This historical piece shows an episode from ancient Roman tradition. According to the stories, Lucretia was a Roman noblewoman who was raped by Sextus Tarquinius Superbus, the son of Rome's 7th king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus who was considered a tyrant by the Roman population. After the rape, Lucretia fled to her father and husband and revealed the rape, called on them for vengeance. Despite the pleas of her family, Lucretia took her own life out of shame while her husband and family swore an oath to expel Tarquinius and his family from Rome (this scene is shown here). In the following events, Tarquinius was expelled from Rome and a Roman republic was established in its place. Painting from 1871.