Lucretia

This painting from 1666 followed on two years after Rembrandt's related artwork of Lucretia before Stabbing Herself

Lucretia receives a longer spread of light than in many of Rembrandt's portraits which is intended to help the viewer appreciate some of the modest beauty of this young woman's attire. The accurate depiction of drapery and jewellery is very much a skill in its own right, and something that Rembrandt was very comfortable in adding into his portraits.

The subject holds a dagger in her right hand and a cord in her left. Indeed, several art historians who have studied this work in previous centuries would try to understand Rembrandt's use of the items in this piece as well as why he wanted to use more light in this particular composition.

The model for this piece is believed to have been a local Dutch woman and Rembrandt aims to communicate her sadness in this scene by reducing his palette upon her skin tones, deliberately leaving her appearance as somewhat pale.

This beautiful portrait painting can now be found at the Minneapolis Institute of Art in the US. It stands at around one metre tall and wide, making it a standard size for his single figure portraits, but much smaller than some of his entries into other genres.

The Minneapolis Institute of Art also holds work by other famous artistic names such as Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Sir Joshua Reynolds, El Greco and Édouard Manet.