Facsimile of the sculpture in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence.

The Rape of the Sabine Women, an episode in the legendary early history of Rome narrated by Plutarch ('Lives' II, 15 and 19), provided a subject for Renaissance and post-Renaissance works of art that combined a suitably inspiring example of the hardihood and courage of ancient Romans in their vigorous prime with the opportunity to depict multiple figures in intensely passionate struggle. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2038x3057, 3387 KB) Summary The rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2038x3057, 3387 KB) Summary The rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna. ... A simplified plan of the city of Rome from the 15th-century illuminated manuscript Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. ... Mestrius Plutarchus (c. ... Raphael was famous for depicting illustrious figures of the Classical past with the features of his Renaissance contemporaries. ...

Comparable themes from Classical Antiquity are the Battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs and the theme of Amazonomachy, the battle of Theseus with the Amazons. A comparable opportunity drawn from Christian legend was afforded by the theme of the Massacre of the Innocents. It has been suggested that Greco-Roman be merged into this article or section. ... In Greek mythology, the Lapiths were a semi-legenday, semi-historical race, whose home was in Thessaly in the valley of the Peneus. ... Amazons were warrior women of Greek legend believed to have lived on the northern fringes of Greece, modern Thrace and toward the Black Sea. ... Theseus (Geek ) was a legendary king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, with whom Aethra lay in one night. ... In Greek mythology, the Amazons () were either an ancient legendary nation of female warriors or a land dominated by women at the outer edges of their known world. ... The Holy Innocents by Giotto di Bondone. ...

Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Women

The sculpture by Giambologna (1579–1583) that was reinterpreted as expressing this theme depicts three figures (a man lifting a woman into the air while a second man crouches) and was carved from a single block of marble. Originally intended as nothing more than a demonstration of the artist's ability to create a complex sculptural group, its subject matter, the mythical rape of the Sabines, had to be invented after Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, decreed that it be put on public display in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Piazza della Signoria. True to mannerist densely-packed, intertwined figural compositions and ambitious overinclusive efforts, the statue renders a dynamic panoply of emotions, in poses that offer multiple viewpoints. When contrasted with the serene single-viewpoint pose of the nearby Michelangelo's David, finished nearly 80 years before, this statue is infused with the dynamics that lead towards Baroque, but the tight, uncomfortable, verticality— self-imposed by the author's virtuosic restriction to a composition that could be carved from a single block of marble— lacks the diagonal thrusts that Bernini would achieve forty years later with his Rape of Proserpine and Apollo and Daphne, both at the Galleria Borghese, Rome. Portrait of Giovanni Bologna by Hendrick Goltzius Giambologna, born as Jean Boulogne, also known as Giovanni Da Bologna and Giovanni Bologna (1529 - 1608) was a sculptor who best known for his marble statuary and works in bronze. ... Events January 6 - The Union of Atrecht united the southern Netherlands under the Duke of Parma, governor in the name of king Philip II of Spain. ... 1583 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... Venus de Milo, front. ... Sabine (in Latin and in Italian, Sabina) is a sub-region of Latium, Italy, on the North-East of Rome toward Rieti. ... Francesco I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (25 March 1541 – 19 October 1587) was the second Grand Duke of Tuscany, ruling from 1574 to 1587. ... The Loggia dei Lanzi, also called the Loggia della Signoria, is a building on the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, adjoining the Uffizi Gallery. ... The Piazza della Signoria is an L-shaped square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. ... Mannerism is the usual English term for an approach to all the arts, particularly painting but not exclusive to it, a reaction to the High Renaissance, emerging after the Sack of Rome in 1527 shook Renaissance confidence, humanism and rationality to their foundations, and even Religion had split apart. ... Michelangelos David, finished by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1504 (started in 1501) is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture and one of Michelangelos two greatest works of sculpture, along with the Pietà. David portrays the Biblical David at the moment that he decides to engage Goliath. ... Adoration, by Peter Paul Rubens. ... A self portrait: Bernini is said to have used his own features in the David (below, left) Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini) (December 7, 1598 - November 28, 1680), who worked chiefly in Rome, was the pre-eminent baroque artist. ... Apollo and Daphne is a baroque sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. ... The Villa Borghese Pinciana (begun 1605) houses the Galleria Borghese. ...

The proposed site for the sculpture, opposite Benvenuto Cellini's statue of Perseus, prompted suggestions that the group should illustrate a theme related to the former work, such as the rape of Andromeda by Phineus. The respective rapes of Proserpina and Helen were also mooted as possibile themes. It was eventually decided that the sculpture was to be identified as one of the Sabine virgins being abducted by the Romans in an episode from the early history of Latium. Gold Salt cellar by Cellini Benvenuto Cellini (November 3, 1500 – February 13, 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, painter, sculptor, soldier and musician of the Renaissance. ... Perseus with the head of Medusa, by Antonio Canova, completed 1801 (Vatican Museums) Perseus, Perseos, or Perseas (Greek: Περσεύς, Περσέως, Περσέας), the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty there, was the first of the mythic heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits helped establish the hegemony of Zeus and the Twelve... Andromeda may be: Andromeda (mythology), the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, wife of Perseus Andromeda Galaxy Andromeda (constellation), in which the Andromeda Galaxy is located Andromeda polifolia or Bog-rosemary, a plant of the heath family Andromeda (TV series) a science fiction television series Mount Andromeda in Canada and the... The Boast of Cassiopeia is a story from Greek mythology, associated with Perseus. ... Rape of Proserpina, by Luca Giordano Proserpina is an ancient goddess whose story is the basis of a myth of Springtime. ... In Greek mythology, Helen (Greek: , Helénē), also known as Helen of Troy, was the daughter of Zeus and Leda and the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. ... The Roman Kingdom (Latin: Regnum Romanum) was the monarchal government for the city of Rome and its territories from its founding. ... Latium (Lazio in Italian) is a region of central Italy, bordered by Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzo, Marche, Molise, Campania and the Tyrrhenian Sea. ...

The work is signed OPVS IOANNIS BOLONII FLANDRI MDLXXXII ("The work of Johannes of Boulogne of Flanders, 1582"). An early preparatory bronze featuring only two figures is in the Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte in Naples. Giambologna then revised the scheme, this time with a third figure, in two wax models now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The artist's full-scale gesso for the finished sculpture, executed in 1582, is on display at the Accademia Gallery in Florence. Flanders (Dutch: Vlaanderen) has several main meanings: the social, cultural and linguistical, scientific and educational, economical and political community of the Flemings; some prefer to call this the Flemish community (others refer to this as the Flemish nation) which is, with over 6 million inhabitants, the majority of all Belgians... ... The Museum of Capodimonte (Museo di Capodimonte), housed in a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy, is the prime repository of Neapolitan and Italian cultural heritage in the city. ... Country Italy Region Campania Province Naples (NA) Mayor Rosa Russo Jervolino Elevation 17 m Area 117 km² Population  - Total (as of December 31, 2004) 1,000,470  - Density 8,457/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Coordinates Gentilic Napoletani Dialing code 081 Postal code 80100 Patron Saint Januarius  - Day September... The Victoria and Albert Museum viewed from Thurloe Square. ... Gesso is the Italian word for chalk (akin to the Greek word gypsum), and is a powdered form of the mineral calcium carbonate used in art. ... The Accademia dell Arte del Disegno (Academy of Design) of Florence was the first academy of drawing in Europe. ...

Bronze reductions of the sculpture, produced in Giambologna's own studio and imitated by others, were a staple of connoisseurs' collections into the 19th century.

Rape of the Sabine Women, by Nicolas Poussin, Rome, 1637-38 (Louvre Museum)

Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (907x682, 128 KB) Summary Nicolas Poussin, The Rape of the Sabine Women, executed in Rome, 1637-38 (Louvre) The second of Poussins two paintings of this subject Licensing The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (907x682, 128 KB) Summary Nicolas Poussin, The Rape of the Sabine Women, executed in Rome, 1637-38 (Louvre) The second of Poussins two paintings of this subject Licensing The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in... Les Bergers d’Arcadie, set in Ancient Greece. ... The main courtyard of the Louvre. ...

Nicolas Poussin's two versions of Rape of the Sabine Women

Nicolas Poussin produced two major versions of this subject, which enabled him to display to the full his unsurpassed antiquarian knowledge, together with his mastery of complicated relations of figures in dramatic encounter. One, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was executed in Rome, 1634-35. The second version, of 1637-38, now at the Louvre Museum, shows that, though some of the principal figures are similar, he had not exhausted the subject. The architectural setting is more developed. Les Bergers d’Arcadie, set in Ancient Greece. ... The Metropolitan Museum of Art, often referred to simply as The Met, is one of the worlds largest and most important art museums. ... The main courtyard of the Louvre. ...

Other artists' versions

Peter Paul Rubens' Rape of the Sabine Women, painted about 1635-40, is at the National Gallery, London. Rubens and Isabella Brant in the Honeysuckle Bower Alte Pinakothek Pieter Pauwel (Peter Paul) Rubens (June 28, 1577 – May 30, 1640) was the most popular and prolific Flemish and European painter of the 17th century. ... The National Gallery from Trafalgar Square The National Gallery is an art gallery in London, located on the north side of Trafalgar Square. ...

Jacques-Louis David painted the correlative theme, of The Sabine Women Enforcing Peace by throwing themselves between the opposing forces of Romans and Sabines. He worked on this canvas during the war years of 1796-99. It is in the Louvre Museum. Self portrait of Jacques-Louis David (1794) Jacques-Louis David (August 30, 1748 – December 29, 1825) was a highly influential French painter in the Neoclassical style. ... The main courtyard of the Louvre. ...

Pablo Picasso deconstructed this theme in his Rape of the Sabine Women (1962-63), now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Young Pablo Picasso Pablo Picasso (October 25, 1881 – April 8, 1973) was a Spanish painter and sculptor. ... Paul Gauguin, Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? (Doù venons-nous? Que faisons-nous? Où allons-nous?) (1897). ...

Literature

Steven Vincent Benet wrote a short story called "The Sobbin' Women" that parodied the legend. It was later adapted into the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Stephen Vincent Benét (July 22, 1898–March 13, 1943) was a United States author, poet, short story writer and novelist, best known for his narrative poem of the American Civil War, John Browns Body, published in 1928. ... Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a musical film released in 1954. ...

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Sabine women

• Pope-Hennessy, John (1996). Italian High Renaissance & Baroque Sculpture, London: Phaidon
• Walter Friedlaender, Nicolas Poussin: A New Approach (New York: Abrams), 1964.