The legendary rape of the Sabine women is the subject of two oil paintings by Nicolas Poussin. [lower-alpha 1] The first version was painted in Rome about 1634 or 1635 and is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, catalogued as The Abduction of the Sabine Women. [1] The second, painted in 1637 or 1638, is in the Louvre in Paris, catalogued as L'enlèvement des Sabines. [3] [lower-alpha 2]
The theme of kidnapping was very successful in Renaissance and Baroque art. Among the legendary episodes relating rapes, kidnappings or abductions may be mentioned those of Helen by Paris, of Europa by Zeus, of Deianeira by the centaur Nessus, and of Proserpina by Pluto; the latter was sculpted by Bernini (1621–1622). [4] [5]
Beginning in the quattrocento , scenes of the abduction and reconciliation of the Sabine women were often figured on Tuscan cassoni (wedding chests), probably as domestic instruction for brides. [6] [7] Shortly after Poussin arrived in Rome in 1624, Pietro da Cortona painted a celebrated picture of the abduction (c. 1630), which was possibly influenced by such cassoni, and which in turn influenced Poussin. [6]
For the two pairs of entwined abductors and captives depicted in the foreground of both versions, Poussin was probably indebted to Giambologna's Mannerist sculpture of the same subject (1579–1583), which was reproduced, with the figures reversed, as a chiaroscuro woodcut by Andrea Andreani (1584), [8] and from which Poussin produced several pen-and-bistre drawings of the motif of a man lifting a woman. [7]
Poussin was also deeply influenced by the classical antiquities which he had the opportunity to study whilst in Rome. [9] The group to the right of the Metropolitan picture recalls The Galatian Suicide , [lower-alpha 3] a 2nd century AD Roman marble after a lost Greek original, which had been recently unearthed during excavations for the redevelopment of the Villa Ludovisi, and was engraved by François Perrier. [11] [9] [lower-alpha 4]
This bold political occurrence is exhibited as passing in the forum of the newly erected city of Rome. Romulus, its founder and king, stands on an elevation at the left side between two columns, holding a royal wand in one hand and raising the skirt of his robe with the other; the latter motion being the signal for every Roman to seize a Sabine wife. The games in honour of the god Consus have ceased, and a scene of uproar and confusion has succeeded. Amidst the numerous groups of struggling women and resisting fathers is one close to the front (viewer's right) composed of a fine athletic man standing across a prostrate woman in the act of striking her aged parent who has seized him round the loins; [lower-alpha 5] near these are an aged woman sitting on the ground bewailing the loss of her child, and two infants, one of whom lies on its back, crying. On the opposite (left) side are two sturdy Romans, each bearing in his arms a fine woman; a lictor, with the fasces in his hand, stands near them, viewing the contest. [14] [lower-alpha 6]
Smith (1837) comments, "This capital production is painted in the most esteemed manner of the master and has the advantage of being clear in its tones of colouring and in excellent preservation." [14]
Painted probably in 1633 or 1634. [1] Belonged to the Maréchal Charles de Créquy, who was French ambassador to Rome in the 1630s; and then to King Louis XIII's chief minister, Cardinal Richelieu, [1] who probably bequeathed it to his niece, the Duchess d'Aiguillon. [16] Purchased at the sale of the Stourhead heirlooms of the Hoare baronets of Barn Elms, on 2 June 1883 (No. 63). [17] Acquired by Sir Francis Cook, 1st Bt (d. 1901) in 1883 and displayed by himself and his heirs at Doughty House, Richmond; inherited by his son Sir Frederick (d. 1920); by his son Sir Herbert (d. 1939); and his son Sir Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook, 4th Bt, from whom it was purchased by Pinakos, Inc. (Rudolf J. Heinemann), and Knoedler, of New York, in 1946. [1]
Engraved by Jean or Gérard Audran. [14] [18] [19]
The composition of this picture differs in many ways from the preceding. The place exhibits a large open square surrounded by beautiful edifices; [lower-alpha 7] in front of one of them, and on an elevation at the left side, [lower-alpha 8] stands Romulus with two senators behind him. He is dressed in military attire and in the act of raising the skirt of his robe, at which preconcerted signal every soldier has seized a Sabine woman, and a scene of confusion and strife has succeeded the festive games. Among the numerous groups may be noticed on the left in front, a soldier bearing off a struggling female, who has knocked his helmet from his head and is pulling his hair; a little retired from these are two lictors (far left), before whom an aged woman is kneeling and supplicating their aid. On the opposite (right) side is a Roman seizing a young woman, who is running after her father, and the latter, while endeavouring to escape, looks round at her ravisher. Further towards the right side is a group composed of an aged woman sitting on the ground sheltering between her knees a young girl whom a youth by entreaty, seconded by a little force, is endeavouring to obtain. [lower-alpha 9] In the more distant groups are seen soldiers on horseback and others on foot either forcibly bearing off the Sabine women or combating with their protectors. [22]
Painted in Rome about 1637 or 1638; according to the artist's friend and biographer Bellori, for Cardinal Alessandro Luigi Omodei (for whom Poussin also painted The Triumph of Flora , [23] and the picture known as Women Bathing, now lost); [24] whence passed to the collection of Louis XIV in 1685. [3] [25] Engraved by Abraham Girardet; Étienne Baudet; P. L. H. Laurent; Matthijs Pool; Edme Bovinet. [26] [27] [28]
A picture of the same subject, differently treated, was formerly in the collection of Sir Richard Colt Hoare (d. 1838), [29] and has sometimes been conflated with the version now in New York. [17] [30]
There are four preparatory drawings for the two pictures: three sketches for the Louvre version, now at Chatsworth House, the Uffizi, and Windsor Castle; and a fourth, for the Metropolitan version, at Windsor Castle. [31]
Nicolas Poussin was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a small group of Italian and French collectors. He returned to Paris for a brief period to serve as First Painter to the King under Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu, but soon returned to Rome and resumed his more traditional themes. In his later years he gave growing prominence to the landscape in his paintings. His work is characterized by clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color. Until the 20th century he remained a major inspiration for such classically-oriented artists as Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Paul Cézanne.
Et in Arcadia ego is a 1637–38 painting by Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665), the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style. It depicts a pastoral scene with idealized shepherds from classical antiquity, and a woman, possibly a shepherdess, gathered around an austere tomb that includes the Latin inscription "Et in Arcadia ego", which is translated to "Even in Arcadia, there am I" or "I too was in Arcadia". Poussin also painted another version of the subject in 1627 under the same title.
The Rape of the Sabine Women, also known as the Abduction of the Sabine Women or the Kidnapping of the Sabine Women, was an incident in the legendary history of Rome in which the men of Rome committed a mass abduction of young women from the other cities in the region. It has been a frequent subject of painters and sculptors, particularly since the Renaissance.
Cassiano dal Pozzo was an Italian scholar and patron of arts. The secretary of Cardinal Francesco Barberini, he was an antiquary in the classicizing circle of Rome, and a long-term friend and patron of Nicolas Poussin, whom he supported from his earliest arrival in Rome: Poussin in a letter declared that he was "a disciple of the house and the museum of cavaliere dal Pozzo." A doctor with interests in the proto-science of alchemy, a correspondent of major figures like Galileo, a collector of books and master drawings, dal Pozzo was a node in the network of European scientific figures.
The Ludovisi Gaul is an ancient Roman statue depicting a Gallic man plunging a sword into his breast as he holds up the dying body of his wife. This sculpture is a marble copy of a now lost Greek bronze original. The Ludovisi Gaul can be found today in the Palazzo Altemps in Rome. This statue is unique for its time because it was common to depict the victor but instead, the Ludovisi Gaul depicts the defeated.
Romulus was the legendary founder and first king of Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus and his contemporaries. Although many of these traditions incorporate elements of folklore, and it is not clear to what extent a historical figure underlies the mythical Romulus, the events and institutions ascribed to him were central to the myths surrounding Rome's origins and cultural traditions.
The Four Seasons was the last set of four oil paintings completed by the French painter Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665). The set was painted in Rome between 1660 and 1664 for the Duc de Richelieu, the grand-nephew of Cardinal Richelieu. Each painting is an elegiac landscape with Old Testament figures conveying the different seasons and times of the day. Executed when the artist was in failing health suffering from a tremor in his hands, the Seasons are a philosophical reflection on the order in the natural world. The iconography evokes not only the Christian themes of death and resurrection but also the pagan imagery of classical antiquity: the poetic worlds of Milton's Paradise Lost and Virgil's Georgics. The paintings currently hang in a room on their own in the Louvre in Paris.
By his absolute humility, by his effacement of himself, by his refusal to use any tricks or overstate himself, Poussin has succeeded in identifying himself with nature, conceived as a manifestation of the divine reason. The Seasons are among the supreme examples of pantheistic landscape painting.
Jamais peut-être, dans toute la peinture occidentale, des choses aussi nombreuses et parfois si difficiles n'avaient été dites avec une telle simplicité. Jamais un peintre ne s'était aussi pleinement identifié à l'ordre du monde. Mais cette identification n'est ni « une projection » ni une confidence : là est le sens de cette impersonalité que l'on a pu reprocher à Poussin, et qui fait sa grandeur.
The Adoration of the Golden Calf is a painting by Nicolas Poussin, produced between 1633 and 1634. It depicts the adoration of the golden calf by the Israelites, from chapter 32 of the Book of Exodus. It was made as part of a pair of paintings commissioned by Amadeo dal Pozzo, Marchese di Voghera of Turin, a cousin to Cassiano dal Pozzo, Poussin's main sponsor in Rome. By 1685 the pair had passed to the Chevalier de Lorraine and in 1710 they were bought by Benigne de Ragois de Bretonvillers. In 1741 they were bought from Samuel by Sir Jacob Bouverie, whose son William became the first Earl of Radnor. The Earls of Radnor owned the pair from then until 1945, when it was split for the first time and The Adoration of the Golden Calf bought by the National Gallery in London for £10,000, half of which was contributed by the Art Fund. It now hangs in Room 19 of the National Gallery, where it and Poussin's The Adoration of the Shepherds were vandalised with red spray paint on 17 July 2011. The French-speaking vandal covered up most of the nude figures.
The Inspiration of the Poet is an oil-on-canvas in the classical style by the artist Nicolas Poussin, painted between 1629 and 1630. It is currently held and exhibited at the Louvre in Paris.
The Adoration of the Shepherds is a painting of 1633–34 by the French painter Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665), now in the National Gallery, London. It is in oils on canvas, and measures 97.2 by 74 centimetres. Unusually for Poussin, it is signed "N. Pusin.fe" ["fecit"] on the stone at lower right. By 1637, soon after it was painted, it was owned by Cardinal Gian Carlo de' Medici (1611–1663), the second son of Grand Duke Cosimo II of Tuscany and was placed in his villa outside Florence.
The Death of Germanicus is a painting made in 1627 by Nicolas Poussin for Francesco Barberini. It is kept at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus is an altarpiece, painted by Nicolas Poussin in 1628–1629, originally displayed in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome.
Abduction of a Sabine Woman is a large and complex marble statue by the Flemish sculptor and architect Giambologna. It was completed between 1579 and 1583 for Cosimo I de' Medici. Giambologna achieved widespread fame in his lifetime, and this work is widely considered his masterpiece. It has been in the Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence, since August 1582.
The Rape of the Sabine Women may refer to at least eight paintings attributed to Luca Giordano or his workshop, all of which depict the legendary rape of the Sabine women.
Rape of the Sabines may refer to either of two oil paintings by the Italian Baroque artist Pietro da Cortona, created c. 1629-1630. One is in the Capitol Museum, Rome. The other is listed in 19th century catalogues of the art collection at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. Both pictures depict the legendary rape of the Sabine women.
The Manna, formerly titled The Israelites Gathering Manna in the Desert, is an oil painting by Poussin, dated to 1638 or 1639, which is now in the Louvre, Paris. The work is regarded as one of Poussin's most ambitious.
The Empire of Flora is an oil painting by Nicolas Poussin, dated to about 1630 or 1631, which is now in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden.
The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine is an oil on panel painting by Nicolas Poussin, dated to about 1628–1629, which depicts the mystical marriage of Saint Catherine to Christ. The picture is now in the Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh.
The capture of Jerusalem by Titus in AD 70 is the subject of several history paintings by Nicolas Poussin. The earliest version, dated to 1626, is in the Israel Museum, catalogued as The Destruction and Sack of the Temple of Jerusalem. Another version, dated to 1635, is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, catalogued as Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by Titus.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
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