Image source: metmuseum.org
The Abduction of the Sabine Women
Artist:Nicolas Poussin
| Support Type: | Canvas |
| Paint Type: | Oil Paint |
| Current Location: | The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. |
| Location History: | Poussin painted this version in Rome around 1633–1634, during the period when he was living and working there. The painting was associated with Marshal Charles I de Créquy, the French ambassador to Rome, who appears to have acquired it around 1633–1634. Créquy died in 1638, after which the painting entered the collection of Cardinal Armand-Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu, in Paris. Following Richelieu’s death in 1642, the painting remained in his estate until 1650, when it was sold and passed to the Duchesse d’Aiguillon. It subsequently passed through several European collections, including those of Jean Neret de La Ravoye, Benigne de Ragois de Bretonvilliers, Jaques Meijers, and the Hoare family at Stourhead. In 1883, it was sold from the Hoare collection and eventually entered the collection of Sir Francis Cook and his descendants. In 1946, it was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art through the Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, where it remains today. |
Rome as we know of its history is regarded as one of the greatest empires of the western hemisphere and widely regarded as the foundational marker for civillization even upto the modern day. This great empire as we know it was built on the back of wanton conquest and expansionism far into Europe ,Africa and even parts of Asia. This painting showcases that very nature of Roman history at its very origin, that it built itself into the grand empire that it was on the back of cruelty and tyranny despite its definitive positive affluence and lasting cultural remark. The Sabine women were one of the earliest victims of Roman expansionism, at the very beginning of its history.
Information Compiled by
Zia Rukshan Zerin