Knife Handle (Lucretia)
Johann Theodor de Bry
1583–1593
- Medium
- Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
- Dimensions
- Image/sheet, trimmed within platemark: 8.4 × 2.3 cm (3 5/16 × 15/16 in.)
- Genre
- Engravings
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago
Tags
engravingprintprints and drawingpaperpaper (fiber product)
About
These elegant knife handles (2014.1123 and 2014.1125) are a paired set printed from the same plate. Perhaps supplying front and back decorations for the same handle, both images include a nude female figure. The piece on the right depicts the ancient Roman figure of Lucretia, who was said to have committed suicide after being raped because she could not bear the dishonor brought on her family. Here she uses a blade to pierce her breast.
