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 Livy and 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. ... A portrait of Titus Livius made long after his death. ... Mestrius Plutarchus (Greek: Πλούταρχος; 46 - 127), better known in English as Plutarch, was an Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist. ... 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. Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, which begins roughly with the earliest-recorded Greek poetry of Homer (7th century BC), and continues through the rise of Christianity and the fall of the Western Roman Empire (5th century AD... 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 (Greek ) was a legendary king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, with whom Aethra lay in one night. ... The Amazons are members of a legendary nation of female warriors . ... The Holy Innocents by Giotto di Bondone. ...

Story

The term "rape" in this context means "abduction" (from the Latin rapere). It refers to an event supposed to have occurred in the early history of Rome, shortly after its foundation by Romulus and a group of mostly male followers. Seeking wives in order to found families, the Romans negotiated with the pre-existing population of the area, the Sabines. The Sabines refused to allow their women to marry the Romans, fearing the emergence of a rival culture. Faced with the extinction of their community, the Romans planned to abduct Sabine women. Romulus invited Sabine families to a festival of Neptune Equester. At the meeting he gave a signal, at which the Romans grabbed the Sabine women and fought off the Sabine men. The indignant abductees were implored by Romulus to accept Roman husbands. According to Livy, he spoke to them each in person "and pointed out to them that it was all owing to the pride of their parents in denying right of intermarriage to their neighbours. They would live in honourable wedlock, and share all their property and civil rights, and - dearest of all to human nature - would be the mothers of freemen."^[1] Originally, the word rape was akin to rapine, rapture, raptor, and rapacious, and referred to the more general violations, such as looting, destruction, and capture of citizens that are inflicted upon a town or country during war, eg. ... Sabine (in Latin and in Italian, Sabina) is a sub-region of Latium, Italy, on the North-East of Rome toward Rieti. ... Neptune is usually depicted with a trident, as seen here in this statue by Jean de Boulogne in Bologna, Italy. ...

The women married Roman men, but the Sabines went to war with the Romans. The conflict was eventually resolved when the women, who now had children by their Roman husbands, intervened in a battle to reconcile the warring parties.

[They] went boldly into the midst of the flying missiles with dishevelled hair and rent garments. Running across the space between the two armies they tried to stop any further fighting and calm the excited passions by appealing to their fathers in the one army and their husbands in the other not to bring upon themselves a curse by staining their hands with the blood of a father-in-law or a son-in-law, nor upon their posterity the taint of parricide. "If," they cried, " you are weary of these ties of kindred, these marriage-bonds, then turn your anger upon us; it is we who are the cause of the war, it is we who have wounded and slain our husbands and fathers. Better for us to perish rather than live without one or the other of you, as widows or as orphans."^[2]

Artistic representations

During the Renaissance the subject was popular as a story symbolising the central importance of marriage for the continuity of families and cultures. As such it was regularly depicted on cassone. Several important examples of the subject include: The cassone (large chest) was one of the trophy furnishings of rich merchants and aristocrats in Italian culture, from the late Middle Ages onward. ...

Giambologna

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. 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... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... 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), better known as Helen of Troy, was the daughter of Zeus and Leda and the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. ...

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: ) 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; a... Assorted ancient Bronze castings found as part of a cache, probably intended for recycling. ... 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. ... The Bay of Naples Naples (Italian: , Neapolitan: Nàpule, from Greek Νεάπολη < Νέα Πόλις Néa Pólis New City) is the largest city in southern Italy and capital of the Campania region and the Province of Naples. ... 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. ... Michelangelos David in the Tribuna that was built especially to house it. ...

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

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. It depicts Romulus at the left giving the signal for the abduction. Les Bergers d’Arcadie, set in Ancient Greece. ... Metropolitan Museum of Art New York Elevation The Metropolitan Museum of Art, often referred to simply as The Met, is one of the worlds largest and most important art museums. ...

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. The main courtyard of the Louvre. ...

Peter Paul Rubens

Peter Paul Rubens' Rape of the Sabine Women, painted a version of the subject about 1635-40. It is at the National Gallery, London. Rubens and Isabella Brant in the Honeysuckle Bower Alte Pinakothek 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

The Intervention of the Sabine Women

Jacques-Louis David painted the other end of the story, when the women intervene to reconcile the warring parties. The Sabine Women Enforcing Peace by Running Between the Combatants (also known as The Intervention of the Sabine Women) was completed in 1799. It is in the Louvre Museum. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1201x860, 162 KB)This was painted in the 18th century, copyright expired long ago. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1201x860, 162 KB)This was painted in the 18th century, copyright expired long ago. ... 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. ...

David had worked on it from 1796, when France was at war with other European nations after a period of civil conflict culminating in the Reign of Terror and the Thermidorian Reaction, during which David himself had been imprisoned as a supporter of Robespierre. After David’s estranged wife visited him in jail, he conceived the idea of telling the story, to honor his wife, with the theme being love prevailing over conflict. The painting was also seen as a plea for the people to reunite after the bloodshed of the revolution. Image:Phrygian cap. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with 9 Thermidor. ... Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre, (May 6, 1758&#8211;July 28, 1794), known also to his contemporaries as the Incorruptible, is one of the best known of the leaders of the French Revolution. ...

The painting depicts Romulus's wife Hersilia - the daughter of Titus Tatius, leader of the Sabines - rushing between her husband and her father and placing her babies between them. A vigorous Romulus prepares to strike a half-retreating Tatius with his spear, but hesitates. Other soldiers are already sheathing their swords. The traditions of ancient Rome held that Titus Tatius was a Sabine king who, after the rape of the Sabine women, attacked Rome and captured the Capitol with the treachery of Tarpeia. ...

The rocky outcrop in the background is the Tarpeian Rock, a reference to civil conflict, since the Roman punishment for treason was to be thrown from the rock. According to legend, when Tatius attacked Rome, he almost succeeded in capturing the city because of the treason of the Vestal Virgin Tarpeia, daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, governor of the citadel on the Capitoline Hill. She opened the city gates for the Sabines in return for 'what they bore on their arms.' She believed that she would receive their golden bracelets. Instead, the Sabines crushed her to death with their shields, and she was thrown from the rock which since bore her name. The Tarpeian Rock (rupes Tarpeia) was a steep cliff of the southern summit of the Capitoline Hill, overlooking the Roman Forum in Ancient Rome. ... A vestal Virgin, engraving by Sir Frederick Leighton, ca 1890: Leightons artistic sense has won over his passion for historical accuracy in showing the veil over the Vestals head at sacrifices, the suffibulum, as translucent, instead of fine white wool. ... A steep cliff of the southern summit of the Capitoline Hill, overlooking the Roman Forum, the Tarpeian Rock (rupes Tarpeia) was used during the Roman Republic as an execution site. ... Spurius Tarpeius is a mythological character. ... The Capitoline Hill (Capitolinus Mons), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the most famous and smallest of the seven hills of Rome. ...

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso deconstructed this theme in his several versions of the Rape of the Sabine Women (1962-63), one of which is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. These are based on David's version. These conflate the beginning and end of the story, depicting the brutish Romulus and Tatius ignoring and trampling on the exposed figure of Hersilia and her child.^[3] 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 and performing arts

Steven Vincent Benet wrote a short story called "The Sobbin' Women" that parodied the legend. Later adapted into the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, it tells the story of seven gauche but sincere backwoodsmen, one of whom gets married, encouraging the others to seek partners. After a barn-raising where they meet girls they are attracted to, they are denied the chance to pursue their courtship by the latter's menfolk. Following the Roman example, they abduct the girls. As in the original tale, the women are at first indignant (screaming, crying, fighting, etc.) but are eventually won over. Stephen Vincent Benét (July 22, 1898&#8211;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. ...

In 1961 a Spanish "sword and sandal" film based on the story was made, directed by Albert Gout.^[4] To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

References

1. ^ Livy: The Rape of the Sabines
2. ^ Livy: The Rape of the Sabines
3. ^ [1]
4. ^ Rape of the Sabine Women video

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.