"El Rapto" by artist Johann Moritz Rugendas, was painted during one of his trips to Chile in 1834, due to the interest of the artist towards the attacks of the indigenous inhabitants of the region towards the Chilean civilizations. The painting depicts an open battle between the Mapuche population, an indigenous group who inhabit south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, and Chilean soldiers and farmers. The focus of the painting is the study of knowledge of nature and primitive men, which are believed to be the motives for his well-documented travels over his life to South-America. In the foreground of the painting an indigenous horseman can be seen taking a fair-skinned women as a war loot during his escape while riding, at the same time he is followed by a farmer on the right, preparing an attack with his sword, desperate to stop him. On the right, a disturbing scene is developing as a women is on an attempt of escaping her captor, meanwhile, in front of her a child can be seen raising with hands to his eyes in order to stop watching the violent situation. In the middle of the painting a second horseman can be seen galloping away while holding a spear, looking down at the fallen horse next to the child. In the background the battle continues on an open valley, with violent actions from both sides, and a small village with white tents can be recognized near the mountains. However, the horizon line is not visible as the smoke from the battle takes most of the visibility and presents a contrast to the sky and nature from the landscape of Chile. The painting became part of the national heritage of Chile, and it’s part of the three versions of the same composition of drawings by Rugendas, however, this third and last located version can be described as the most developed and concise version by art experts.

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