Lucretia

Rembrandt painted this three years before his own death, in a decade that had stripped nearly everything from him. He had gone bankrupt, sold his house and his collection, and buried Hendrickje, the woman who had stood by him through it all. Twice in these late years he painted Lucretia, the Roman wife who, according to the old story, killed herself after being raped, to clear her name. In this second version she has already driven in the knife. One hand still grips the dagger, the other pulls a bed cord as if to steady herself or ring for help, and a dark stain is spreading across her white shift. He shows her not at the shameful moment but a heartbeat after the decision, alone, looking almost gently out past us.