Artwork Page for Abduction of the Sabine Women

Details / Information for Abduction of the Sabine Women

Abduction of the Sabine Women

c. 1640

Johann Heinrich Schönfeld

(German, 1609–1684)
Culture
Germany
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 129 x 178 x 7.5 cm (50 13/16 x 70 1/16 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 110 x 160 cm (43 5/16 x 63 in.)
Credit Line
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1982.143
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Description

Shortly after Rome was founded, the Romans abducted the women of the neighboring Sabines to be their wives. During the ensuing war, the Sabine women intervened, making peace between the two sides. Painted in Naples, this canvas seems to be the last of four versions of the subject painted by Johann Schönfeld (two in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, another in a private collection).
A horizontally oriented oil painting depicts people with light skin tones amidst classical stone architecture under a blue and gray sky. To our left, tall arched structures rise behind a woman in yellow and red garments kneeling. In the center, several men lift and carry struggling women. To our right, a man in a red and blue tunic pulls a woman across the ground. Muted tones contrast with vibrant red clothing throughout.

Abduction of the Sabine Women

c. 1640

Johann Heinrich Schönfeld

(German, 1609–1684)
Germany

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