Tarquin and Lucretia

This picture, very typical of Giulio’s work in Mantua in its choice of subject, represents a famous episode from early Roman history. The rape of Lucretia by Sextus Tarquinius, and the dishonoured victims subsequent suicide, are said to have led to the fall of Tarquinius Superbus (the rapist’s father and the last Etruscan king) at the end of the 6th century BC.