The Abduction of the Sabine Women Sculpture

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The bronze group “The Abduction of the Sabines” , made in the technique of electroforming according to the model of … Read more The bronze group “The Abduction of the Sabines” , made in the technique of electroforming according to the model of the Florentine master Giovanni da Bologna, a representative of the early Baroque. The work illustrates the famous plot of Roman history when the robbers and pirates, associates of Romulus, invited the neighboring Sabinyan tribe to visit. In t the middle of the party at the signal of Romulus, the Romans rushed to grab the girls, pushing their fathers and husbands away, thereby ensuring the future of the eternal city. The work is built in a spiral manner; from the defeated and pleading for mercy on the bottom of the composition to the solemn possession of prey at the top. The expression of the struggle is ensured by the multi-direction of the hands. Passion and cherishing of the possessed are the leitmotifs of the protagonist. The Florentine master Giovanni da Bologna, nicknamed Jambolon, is considered one of the best masters of late mannerism. The sculpture group he created combines classical nudes typical for Greek sculpture and the dynamism of mannerism. In 1563, Giambolonia became a member of the prestigious Academy of Arts in Florence. He creates his first masterpiece for the city of Bologna: after receiving payment for a bronze sculpture of Neptune, the master creates it for the fountain of the same name. The design of the sculpture of the Sabinyanok began in 1579. Initially, the artist planned to create only two figures, which can be seen from the preparatory bronze blanks (Capodimonte Museum, Naples), but then he added a third figure, as evidenced by wax models (Victoria and Albert Museum, London). A full-scale plaster sculpture model can be seen in the Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. The statue illustrates the legend of the outbreak of the Sabine War. Almost the entire population of Rome was made up of men, and local tribes did not allow their women to marry the Romans because of their poverty. Romulus organizes a holiday in the city, inviting many guests, including his neighbors, and at a certain moment of the celebration, a violent abduction of women takes place, subsequently imprinted in stone by the great master Jambolonha. See less