The Murder of King Servius by His Son-in-law (Main View)

While bystanders--a typical feature of the Boucicaut Master's compositions--witness the event from the walls of the palace, a hired henchman murders Servius Tullius, Etruscan king of Rome, at the order of his son-in-law Lucius Tarquin. According to Boccaccio, Servius's daughter Tullia married Lucius, son of the previous king, but she scorned her husband Lucius because he had not succeeded his father as king. Lucius therefore seized control of the government and had King Servius executed on the road to the palace, as seen in this miniature. In her haste to reach the palace and take her place as queen, the heartless Tullia drove over her own father's body in the street.