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Lot Essay
Orazio Borgianni, a Roman, was largely self-taught, and while he spent some of his youth in Spain, it was to Rome that he returned and where he spent the majority of his life until his early death in 1616. In the present work, the tenebristic palette, the dramatic setting, intense facial expressions and forthright gestures within a severely restricted pictorial plane, all reflect the palpable influence of Caravaggio on the artist.
In depicting the Death of Lucretia, Borgianni chooses the moment of her suicide (Ovid, Fasti, 2:725-852), but unusually includes in the composition three attendant figures. Papi (op. cit.) suggests that the soldier attempting to stay Lucretia's action is Junius Brutus, who, as a result of the rape of Lucretia, began a revolt against Tarquin. At the back, his arms outstretched in horror, is Lucretia's husband and Brutus's companion-in-arms, Collatinus. The third figure seen in half-shadow is Lucretia's father, Lucretius Spurius.
In recognizing the above work as an important response to the Caravaggist movement in Rome, Gianni Papi dates it to the 1610s and describes it as one of Borgianni's most significant responses to the Caravaggist movement during the final years of his life.
In depicting the Death of Lucretia, Borgianni chooses the moment of her suicide (Ovid, Fasti, 2:725-852), but unusually includes in the composition three attendant figures. Papi (op. cit.) suggests that the soldier attempting to stay Lucretia's action is Junius Brutus, who, as a result of the rape of Lucretia, began a revolt against Tarquin. At the back, his arms outstretched in horror, is Lucretia's husband and Brutus's companion-in-arms, Collatinus. The third figure seen in half-shadow is Lucretia's father, Lucretius Spurius.
In recognizing the above work as an important response to the Caravaggist movement in Rome, Gianni Papi dates it to the 1610s and describes it as one of Borgianni's most significant responses to the Caravaggist movement during the final years of his life.