The Abduction of the Sabine Women is a painting by Nicolas Poussin in approx. 1633, telling the infamous tale of the rape of the Sabine Women by the first Romans. Poussin, a Normandy-born French painter, recreated the account in a work of classical painting that remains a very influential and well-received work of art (Gardner and Kleiner 569). In the following paper, the artwork will be examined and analyzed in terms of form, depth, texture, shadow and meaning, and the artist’s influences, style, form and historical context will also be discussed.
Poussin’s painting of The Abduction of the Sabine Woman is a classic example of his approach to classical French painting. In the work, the Roman Romulus is shown to the left, lifting his red cloak in order to signal his men to carry off a Sabine maiden. In the crowd below, a mass of people are shown running both to the left and right of the center of the painting’s frame, grabbing and clutching at each other. Above them, the Roman architecture looms high and strong, with the dull blue sky and rolling clouds surrounding Romulus. The use of line is very interesting, as the top half of the painting features extremely rigid corners and lines in the Roman buildings, everything very clean and clear; below them, the crowd of people, with their flailing limbs and reaching arms, obscure any clear sense of line there is to invite a sense of chaos. Colors are muted, with the exception of Romulus’ deep red cloak and the blue gowns of some of the Sabine women, making them stand out even more amongst the mass of people. One figure in the foreground appears to have a golden torso, but closer inspection reveals he is simply wearing gold muscled armor.
The brushstrokes are extremely painterly, with a great sense of detail and curve lending each muscle and fold of fabric a realistic feel. There is a clear sense of depth to the painting, with figures in the foreground and background being different sizes – one can accurately discern how far individuals are from one another. The form of the painting is also quite interesting, as the aforementioned contrast between the order of the buildings and the chaos of the people sends a clear message about the movement and energy of man during this historical event. The light source appears to be the sun, up and to the left of the painting; the lighting is muted enough to imply sunset, as does the bright hues of the horizon just to the right of Romulus.
The style used in The Abduction of the Sabine Women fits quite well with Poussin’s stated art style. One of the leaders in classic 17th century painting, Poussin wrote about the principles of classicism, stating that “the grand manner consists of four things: subject-matter or theme, thought, structure, and style” (Gardner & Kleiner 570). Poussin believed in grand, sweeping gestures and broadness of movement and setting; this mindset is clearly in play in Abduction of the Sabine Women. Romulus’ perch high above the action, commanding it allows him to demonstrate great power, holding control over the chaos in a way that alludes to the grand tradition in which it is drawn. Poussin also believed in arrangement, measure, and form as integral components of beauty in painting (570). These elements are alive and well in his painting, with the aforementioned arrangement of Romulus above the crowd, the consistent, realistic bodily proportions to indicate measure, and the form juxtaposes light and shadow to create even further realism.
This painting was created in Rome for the sake of the marechal Charles I de Crequy, and alludes to the attitudes of Italy and Rome at the time it was painted. Following Italy’s conquest by the Holy Roman Empire in the 16th century, the Baroque era began. The Renaissance had just finished, and the Catholic Church held tremendous sway in Italy; it is not surprising, then, that an unironic celebration of Roman cunning and victory would be painted with such grace and adoration. The same year this painting was finished, Galileo was condemned by the papacy for writing a book supporting the Copernican theory that the earth revolved around the sun; in this era of Roman Catholic domination of Italy, works like The Abduction of the Sabine Women would be celebrated for their love of Rome. At the same time, Poussin’s classicism was a reaction to the Baroque style that was cropping up in Rome itself, making this painting a representation of that reaction.
The Abduction of the Sabine Women’s combination of unique form and depth, fitting in with Poussin’s ideas of classicism, acted both as representation and contradiction to the Roman cultural dominance of Italy, favoring its accomplishments while offering alternatives to its art.
Works Cited
Gardner, Helen, and Fred S. Kleiner. Gardner's Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective. Thirteenth Edition ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.
"Nicolas Poussin: The Abduction of the Sabine Women" (46.160) In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art
History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/46.160. (October 2006)
