1675
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
The Abduction of the Sabine Women is a 1675 oil by Luca Giordano, a Baroque work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
You see a chaotic scene of men and women in ancient clothing, with horses and buildings in the background. The painting shows a dramatic moment from Roman mythology. It's interesting that the artist, Luca Giordano, was known for his bold style, which is evident in this work. To learn more about the style that influenced this painting, look up the technique of chiaroscuro.
Perhaps the most acclaimed and well-traveled artist in Italy at the end of the 17th century, Luca Giordano first emulated, then transformed the styles of numerous celebrated artists, including Peter Paul Rubens . Giordano’s artistic studies informed this monumental depiction of the myth of the founding of Rome. The Romans, plagued by a shortage of brides, invited the neighboring Sabines to a festival and then violently kidnapped their young women. Using the rapid, bold brushwork that earned him the nickname Luca fa presto (Luca paints quickly), Giordano wove vivid gestures and compositional…
Purchased in the early twentieth century by Georges de Branconier, Brussels [letter from Yvan Cruysmans, dated July 24, 1991, in curatorial file]; Madame Georges de Braconier (née Comtesse d’Hemricourt), Brussels, until 1950s [see letter cited above]; Jean Cruysmans (died 1970), Brussels [see letter cited above]; Cruysmans family, Brussels [see letter cited above]; offered for sale, Sotheby’s, London, March 19, 1975, lot 76; bought in; reoffered Sotheby’s, London, May 12, 1976, lot 102; Alfredo and Raquel Helegua, Washington; sold to the Art Institute, 1991.
Larry J. Feinberg, “Luca Giordano’s Abduction of the Sabine Women,” Notable Acquisitions at the Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 21, 1 (1995), pp. 38–47. Paul Jeromack, “Panorama del collezionismo pubblico nell’America del Nord, 1990–1995” in Alessandro Morandotti, Pittura Italiana antica settecento (Milan, 1995), p. 58. Oreste Ferrari and Giuseppe Scavizi, Luca Giordano. Nuove ricerche e inediti (Naples, 2003), p. 58, no. A0115.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Luca Giordano was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Giordano was one of the most celebrated artists of the Neapolitan Baroque, whose vast output included altarpieces, mythological paintings and…
See the richer artist page
