Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli (Parma ca. 1505-1569)

An emblem of virtue, the Roman noblewoman Lucretia committed suicide after being raped by Sextus Tarquinius; her husband Junius Brutus avenged her by leading a revolt that helped institute the Republic. Encompassing the elegance and sophistication of Italian Mannerism, the sheet is based on a drawing by Bedoli’s cousin, Parmigianino, in the Château de Malmaison (A. Gnann, Parmigianino. Die Zeichnungen, Petersberg, 2007, no. 961, ill.) which is sometimes given to Bedoli himself (Strasser, op. cit.). As recently illustrated by Mary Vaccaro, the artist would on occasion replicate his own designs in order to produce finished drawings for the market (see M. Vaccaro, ’Collaborazioni nella bottega dei Mazzola Bedoli’, Aurea Parma, 2-3, 2018, pp. 185-215).