De kuise Lucretia 1730 - 1770

Editor: This is "The Chaste Lucretia," an engraving by Balthasar Sigmund Setletzky, made sometime between 1730 and 1770. The Rijksmuseum holds it now. It's quite ornate, almost dizzying with all the swirling Baroque details! What first grabs your eye about this print? Curator: You know, that dizziness is spot-on. Baroque art often aimed to overwhelm the senses, a sort of…visual opera! For me, it's Lucretia’s pose. She’s theatrical, isn't she? One arm extended, the other clutching a… well, what *is* she clutching? Is it a dagger? Editor: It definitely looks like a dagger! Is this referencing the story of Lucretia's suicide after being assaulted? Curator: Precisely! The print becomes a window into the 18th-century mind. Here's a woman choosing death over dishonor, a concept ripe with philosophical and moral implications for the time. Doesn't the cupid at the bottom seem rather out of place given the subject matter? It almost feels…sarcastic. What do you make of that detail? Editor: Good point. Cupid seems to indicate love and beauty. But then we are reminded of tragedy. Maybe Setletzky is telling us that beauty and love cannot coexist in a tragic narrative? Or is the cupid, an ironic observer, hinting at the brutal reality masked by idealised virtue? Curator: Ooh, I like where you’re going with that. It's that tension that makes this print so engaging. The virtuous presented through...well violence. Did you notice that she isn't in any specific location, like a stage removed from the viewer? And above her, what kind of virtue can she hold above a body count of 1? Editor: It’s like a debate happening on a single sheet of paper. I think I’m seeing so much more depth to it than I did when I started. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure! Every artwork, when considered more carefully, has a narrative we just need to find.