FEMALE NARRATOR:
The rape of the Sabine women is a legendary event from early Roman history. Concerned about the lack of unmarried women in his newly founded city, Romulus invited the families of the neighboring settlements to a festival. At a given signal during the celebrations, the young men of Rome snatched the daughters of the Sabines and carried them off. According to the Roman historian Plutarch:
PLUTARCH [ACTOR]:
“They did not commit this rape wantonly, but with a design purely of forming alliances with their neighbors by the greatest and surest bond.”
FEMALE NARRATOR:
In this bronze by Giambologna, the forceful, contrasting motions of the two figures is reinforced by their physical differences the strong, taut muscles of the man the sinuous, curving forms of the woman. He gracefully lifts her as she struggles, his left hand pressing hard against her soft flesh. Walk around the sculpture, and you’ll see that it spirals upward in a magnificent display of artistic virtuosity.
Giambologna was among the foremost sculptors of his day. Originally from Flanders, he traveled to Italy in 1550 to study the monuments of classical antiquity and to train with Michelangelo in Rome. He eventually settled in Florence, working as the court sculptor for the powerful Medici family. His large-scale masterpieces drew much praise, but his reputation was also secured by small bronzes like this one, eagerly purchased by European collectors as examples of sophisticated Florentine design.
Rape of Proserpina (Rape of the Sabine Woman)
c. 1579
Jean Boulogne called Giambologna (Flemish, 1529-1608 (active in Italy))
On View
Giovanni da Bologna traveled to Rome in 1550 to complete his training with Michelangelo. Thereafter he made his career in Florence working for the Medici. This sculpture may be a preliminary study for his life-size, three-figured marble Rape of a Sabine in Florence. The forceful, contrasting movement of the figures is complemented by their physical differences—the taut, muscular youth, the supple, curving female form—and their psychological contrasts conveyed by gesture and pose. The drama of the movement is heightened by the use of contrapposto in which the upper and lower parts of the body twist in opposite directions, encouraging the viewer to walk around the piece and observe it from all points of view.
Details
- Artist Name: Jean Boulogne called Giambologna (Flemish, 1529-1608 (active in Italy))
- Title: Rape of Proserpina (Rape of the Sabine Woman)
- Date: c. 1579
- Medium: Bronze
- Dimensions: overall: 38 1/2 x 10 x 18 in. (97.79 x 25.4 x 45.7 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1965.1.127.S
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
[Hamburger Brothers, Paris, by 1904-until at least 1907].
George J. Gould, Lakewood, New Jersey, sold 1927 to;
[Duveen Brothers, New York (stock no. 28799), sold 1965 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.
George J. Gould, Lakewood, New Jersey, sold 1927 to;
[Duveen Brothers, New York (stock no. 28799), sold 1965 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.
Exposition rétrospective des oeuvres des beaux-arts
- St. Petersberg, Baron Stieglitz Museum, 1904 to
Giambologna's Conception of the Rape of the Sabine Women: A Study Exhibition in the Connoisseurship of Bronze Statuettes
- St. Louis, Washington University, Gallery of Art, 1971-10-25 to 1971-11-14
[on loan]
- Princeton University Art Museum, 1972-10-26 to
[on loan]
- Detroit Institute of Arts, 1974-11-01 to
[on loan]
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1965 to
Art of Tuscany: Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture
- New York, Duveen Galleries, 1963-11 to 1963-12
Lock, Stock and Barrel: Norton Simon's Purchase of Duveen Brothers Gallery
- Norton Simon Museum, 2014-10-24 to 2015-02-16
The Expressive Body: Memory, Devotion, Desire (1400-1750)
- Norton Simon Museum, 2021-10-15 to 2022-03-07
To Do Battle: Conflict, Struggle, and Symbol in Art
- Norton Simon Museum, 2002-03-08 to 2002-07-08
- Trésors d'Art en Russia, 1904, pls. 111, 112 p.364
- Prachoff, Adrien, Album de l'Exposition Rétrospective d'Objects d'Art de 1904 à St. Petersbourg, 1907, p. 93
- Pope-Hennessy, John, Introduction to Italian Sculpture. Part III: Italian High Renaissance and Baroque Sculpture, 1963, pp. 80, 82-83
- Duveen Bros., Art of Tuscany: Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, 1963, no. 25
- Washington University, Gallery of Art, Giambologna's Conception of the Rape of the Sabine Women: A Study Exhibition in the Connoisseurship of Bronze Statuettes, 1971, no. 2
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. D74 p. 447
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