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The Intervention of the Sabine Women

November 25, 2023

The Intervention of the Sabine Women is a 1799 painting by the French painter Jacques-Louis David, showing a legendary episode following the abduction of the Sabine women by the founding generation of Rome.

The Intervention of the Sabine Women
ArtistJacques-Louis David
Year1799 (1799)
Dimensions385 cm × 522 cm (152 in × 206 in)
LocationLouvre

Work on the painting commenced in 1796, after his estranged wife visited him in jail. He conceived the idea of telling the story, to honour his wife, with the theme being love prevailing over conflict and the protection of children. The painting was also seen as a plea for the people to reunite after the bloodshed of the revolution. Its realization took him nearly four years.

Description edit

The painting depicts Romulus's wife Hersilia – the daughter of Titus Tatius, leader of the Sabines – rushing between her husband and her father and placing her babies between them. A vigorous Romulus prepares to strike a half-retreating Tatius with his spear, but hesitates.

The rocky outcrop in the background is the Tarpeian Rock, a reference to civil conflict, since the Roman punishment for treason was to be thrown from the rock. According to legend, when Tatius attacked Rome, he almost succeeded in capturing the city because of the treason of the Vestal Virgin Tarpeia, daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, governor of the citadel on the Capitoline Hill. She opened the city gates for the Sabines in return for "what they bore on their arms". She believed that she would receive their golden bracelets. Instead, the Sabines crushed her to death and threw her from the rock, later named for her.

The towering walls in the background of the painting have been interpreted as an allusion to the Bastille, whose storming on 14 July 1789 marked the beginning of the French Revolution.[1]

Production edit

David began planning the work while he was imprisoned in the Luxembourg Palace from 29 May to 3 August 1795. France was at war with other European nations after a period of civil conflict culminating in the Reign of Terror and the Thermidorian Reaction, during which David had been imprisoned as a supporter of Robespierre. David hesitated between representing either this subject or that of Homer reciting his verses to his fellow Greeks. He finally chose to make a canvas representing the Sabine women interposing themselves to separate the Romans and Sabines, as a "sequel" to Poussin's The Rape of the Sabine Women. According to a popular account, he was inspired to paint it in honour of his estranged wife, Charlotte, after she visited him there.[2]

He began preparations shortly after his release, in the autumn of 1795, assisted in his research by his student Pierre-Maximilien Delafontaine.[3] From February 1796, he worked in a temporary studio in the Louvre,[3] and later moved to premises on the Champs-Élysées.[4]

The female models for The Intervention of the Sabine Women were aristocratic women, whose appearances David blended with those of Classical sculptures.[5] Numerous apocryphal anecdotes arose in Paris about the involvement of Adèle de Bellegarde and her sister Aurore, who modelled for the two central Sabine women.[6] Aurore de Bellegarde became David's model for Hersilia, while Adèle modelled for the crouching figure seen to her right.[6] Sources disagree as to how the arrangement began: in the version reported by Miette de Villars in 1850, the sisters and Thérésa Tallien, by then a leading figure in Parisian high society,[7] heard that David had been struggling to find female models and visited his studio in the nude, offering to model for Hersilia.[8] David is said to have exclaimed "Mesdames, me voilà comme Pâris devant les trois grâces!" ("Mesdames, here I am like Paris in front of the three Graces!").[4] In a second version reported by David's student Étienne-Jean Delécluze in 1855, the de Bellegardes were brought to the studio by Madame de Noailles,[a] a friend of David's, and caught the painter's attention with their long and beautiful hairstyles.[10] Certainly, both de Bellegarde sisters were well known among the Parisian art world, and for their acquaintance with artists of various genres.[11]

In de Villars' version, David was most taken by Aurore, who sat for Hersitia, only asking Adèle and Tallien to pose "out of politeness".[12] According to Delécluze, however, it was Adèle's long, dark hair that most interested him: at the time, he had already painted the crouching figure next to Hersitia (which had been completed by October 1796),[3] and expressed regret that he had not had de Bellegarde's face as a model from which to do so. De Bellegarde accordingly allowed him to repaint the figure's face and hair after her own,[13] while he used part of Aurore's leg in his figure of Hersitia.[6] David's use of the de Bellegarde sisters as models has been interpreted as creating a link between the mythological Sabine Women and Parisian women of his own time,[14] which has itself been interpreted as "affording a familial basis for the reconciliation of a divided and warring post-Revolutionary France".[15]

According to Delécluze, the attention David paid to the painting of Adèle de Bellegarde's face led to rumours of an affair between her and the painter, which Delécluze considered baseless.[13] Other rumours circulated as to whether she had posed fully nude.[11]

The Intervention of the Sabine Women was first exhibited at the Louvre on December 21 1799,[16] a few weeks after the Coup of 18 Brumaire,[17] in what has been described as "the major artistic event of the late 1790s in Paris."[18] The diaphanous gowns worn by its female characters were credited for starting a fashion for similar outfits, known as dresses à la antique ("Ancient-style"),[19] among Parisian high society.[20]

Influence edit

The genesis of Les Sabines and the work itself represented a significant departure for the day.[21] Historical depictions had been typically commissioned. David however, conceived, produced and promoted his work for profit.[22] He produced marketing material to accompany the first exhibition. Le Tableau des Sabines, Exposé Publiquement au Palais National des Sciences et des Arts ("the Tableau of the Sabines, Public Exhibition at the National Palace of Arts and Science") contained his own account of the historic episode and had an endnote explaining his rationale for using nudity in the painting.[23] Its 1799 exhibition attracted a large number of paying visitors for several years. In 1819 David sold Les Sabines and his Léonidas at Thermopylae to the Royal Museums for 10,000 francs.[citation needed]

Starting in 1977, France issued a series of stamps featuring the head of Hersilia based on David's painting.[24]

After the expulsion of artists including David from the Louvre, the painting was held in the ancient church of Cluny, which he used as a workshop. That building is now operated as the Musée de Cluny.

See also edit

Footnotes edit

Explanatory notes edit

  1. ^ Her identity is unknown, as Delécluze does not specify her first name: Daudet claims that there were three women with that surname in Paris at the time, but to have been unable to ascertain which Delécluze intended.[9]

References edit

  1. ^ Kraus 2010, p. 192.
  2. ^ Roberts 1992, pp. 90–112.
  3. ^ a b c Bordes 2022, p. 214.
  4. ^ a b de Villars 1850, p. 161.
  5. ^ Muther 1895, p. 164-165.
  6. ^ a b c Lajer-Burcharth 1999, p. 141.
  7. ^ Gueniffey 2015, p. 197.
  8. ^ de Villars 1850, p. 161; Lajer-Burcharth 1999, p. 141.
  9. ^ Daudet 1903, p. 603.
  10. ^ Delécluze 1855, p. 192.
  11. ^ a b Grimaldo Grigsby 1998, p. 326.
  12. ^ de Villars 1850, p. 162.
  13. ^ a b Delécluze 1855, p. 194.
  14. ^ Lajer-Burcharth 1999, pp. 141–145.
  15. ^ Grimaldo Grigsby 1998, p. 311.
  16. ^ Johnson 2006, p. 131.
  17. ^ Halliday 2006, pp. 202, 211.
  18. ^ Lajer-Burcharth 1999, p. 132.
  19. ^ Gover 1999, p. 149.
  20. ^ Bordes 2005, p. 11.
  21. ^ Halliday 2006.
  22. ^ Halliday 2006, p.199 n.1, 1, quoting Dorothy Johnson: In Search of a Beholder: On the Relation between Art, Audiences, and Social Spheres in Post-Thermidor France, Art Bulletin, vol. 74, 1992, pp. 19–36
  23. ^ David 1800.
  24. ^ Gibbons 2012.

Bibliography edit

  • Bordes, Phillipe (2022). Jacques-Louis David: Radical Draftsman. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9781588397461.
  • Bordes, Phillipe (2005). Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300104479.
  • Daudet, Ernest (1903). "Les Dames de Bellegarde: Mœurs des temps de la Révolution: I: Autour du Château des Marches" . Revue des Deux Mondes (journal). 5 (in French). 17: 570–603 – via Wikisource.
  • David, Jacques-Louis (1800), Le tableau des Sabines, exposé publiquement au Palais national des sciences et des arts (in French), Paris: Pierre Didot, retrieved 12 December 2016
  • de Villars, Miette (1850). Mémoires de David: Peintre et Député à La Convention (in French). Paris.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Delécluze, Étienne-Jean (1855). Louis David: Son École et Son Temps (in French). Paris: Bonaventure and Ducessois.
  • Gibbons, Stanley (2012). Stamps of the World. Stanley Gibbons. ISBN 9780852598382.
  • Gover, Louise Juliet (1999). (PDF) (Ph.D.). University College London. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-02-12. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  • Grimaldo Grigsby, Darcy (1998). "Nudity à la grecque in 1799". The Art Bulletin. 80 (2): 311–335. JSTOR 3051235.
  • Gueniffey, Patrice (2015). Bonaparte. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674368354.
  • Halliday, Tony (2006). "The Trouble with Tatius". Oxford Art Journal. 29 (2): 197–211. doi:10.1093/oxartj/kcl002. JSTOR 3841012.
  • Johnson, Dorothy (2006). "David and Napoleonic Painting". In Johnson, Dorothy (ed.). Jacques-Louis David: New Perspectives. Newark: University of Delaware Press. pp. 131–143. ISBN 9780874139303.
  • Kraus, Heidi (2010). David, architecture, and the dichotomy of art (Ph.D). University of Iowa. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  • Lajer-Burcharth, Ewa (1999). Necklines: The Art of Jacques-Louis David After the Terror. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300074215.
  • Muther, Richard (1895). The History of Modern Painting. Vol. 1. London: Henry and Co.
  • Roberts, Warren (1992). Jacques-Louis David, Revolutionary Artist: Art, Politics, and the French Revolution. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0807843504.

External links edit

November 25, 2023
intervention, sabine, women, 1799, painting, french, painter, jacques, louis, david, showing, legendary, episode, following, abduction, sabine, women, founding, generation, rome, artistjacques, louis, davidyear1799, 1799, dimensions385, locationlouvrework, pai. The Intervention of the Sabine Women is a 1799 painting by the French painter Jacques Louis David showing a legendary episode following the abduction of the Sabine women by the founding generation of Rome The Intervention of the Sabine WomenArtistJacques Louis DavidYear1799 1799 Dimensions385 cm 522 cm 152 in 206 in LocationLouvreWork on the painting commenced in 1796 after his estranged wife visited him in jail He conceived the idea of telling the story to honour his wife with the theme being love prevailing over conflict and the protection of children The painting was also seen as a plea for the people to reunite after the bloodshed of the revolution Its realization took him nearly four years Contents 1 Description 2 Production 3 Influence 4 See also 5 Footnotes 5 1 Explanatory notes 5 2 References 6 Bibliography 7 External linksDescription editThe painting depicts Romulus s wife Hersilia the daughter of Titus Tatius leader of the Sabines rushing between her husband and her father and placing her babies between them A vigorous Romulus prepares to strike a half retreating Tatius with his spear but hesitates The rocky outcrop in the background is the Tarpeian Rock a reference to civil conflict since the Roman punishment for treason was to be thrown from the rock According to legend when Tatius attacked Rome he almost succeeded in capturing the city because of the treason of the Vestal Virgin Tarpeia daughter of Spurius Tarpeius governor of the citadel on the Capitoline Hill She opened the city gates for the Sabines in return for what they bore on their arms She believed that she would receive their golden bracelets Instead the Sabines crushed her to death and threw her from the rock later named for her The towering walls in the background of the painting have been interpreted as an allusion to the Bastille whose storming on 14 July 1789 marked the beginning of the French Revolution 1 Production editDavid began planning the work while he was imprisoned in the Luxembourg Palace from 29 May to 3 August 1795 France was at war with other European nations after a period of civil conflict culminating in the Reign of Terror and the Thermidorian Reaction during which David had been imprisoned as a supporter of Robespierre David hesitated between representing either this subject or that of Homer reciting his verses to his fellow Greeks He finally chose to make a canvas representing the Sabine women interposing themselves to separate the Romans and Sabines as a sequel to Poussin s The Rape of the Sabine Women According to a popular account he was inspired to paint it in honour of his estranged wife Charlotte after she visited him there 2 He began preparations shortly after his release in the autumn of 1795 assisted in his research by his student Pierre Maximilien Delafontaine 3 From February 1796 he worked in a temporary studio in the Louvre 3 and later moved to premises on the Champs Elysees 4 The female models for The Intervention of the Sabine Women were aristocratic women whose appearances David blended with those of Classical sculptures 5 Numerous apocryphal anecdotes arose in Paris about the involvement of Adele de Bellegarde and her sister Aurore who modelled for the two central Sabine women 6 Aurore de Bellegarde became David s model for Hersilia while Adele modelled for the crouching figure seen to her right 6 Sources disagree as to how the arrangement began in the version reported by Miette de Villars in 1850 the sisters and Theresa Tallien by then a leading figure in Parisian high society 7 heard that David had been struggling to find female models and visited his studio in the nude offering to model for Hersilia 8 David is said to have exclaimed Mesdames me voila comme Paris devant les trois graces Mesdames here I am like Paris in front of the three Graces 4 In a second version reported by David s student Etienne Jean Delecluze in 1855 the de Bellegardes were brought to the studio by Madame de Noailles a a friend of David s and caught the painter s attention with their long and beautiful hairstyles 10 Certainly both de Bellegarde sisters were well known among the Parisian art world and for their acquaintance with artists of various genres 11 In de Villars version David was most taken by Aurore who sat for Hersitia only asking Adele and Tallien to pose out of politeness 12 According to Delecluze however it was Adele s long dark hair that most interested him at the time he had already painted the crouching figure next to Hersitia which had been completed by October 1796 3 and expressed regret that he had not had de Bellegarde s face as a model from which to do so De Bellegarde accordingly allowed him to repaint the figure s face and hair after her own 13 while he used part of Aurore s leg in his figure of Hersitia 6 David s use of the de Bellegarde sisters as models has been interpreted as creating a link between the mythological Sabine Women and Parisian women of his own time 14 which has itself been interpreted as affording a familial basis for the reconciliation of a divided and warring post Revolutionary France 15 According to Delecluze the attention David paid to the painting of Adele de Bellegarde s face led to rumours of an affair between her and the painter which Delecluze considered baseless 13 Other rumours circulated as to whether she had posed fully nude 11 The Intervention of the Sabine Women was first exhibited at the Louvre on December 21 1799 16 a few weeks after the Coup of 18 Brumaire 17 in what has been described as the major artistic event of the late 1790s in Paris 18 The diaphanous gowns worn by its female characters were credited for starting a fashion for similar outfits known as dresses a la antique Ancient style 19 among Parisian high society 20 Influence editThe genesis of Les Sabines and the work itself represented a significant departure for the day 21 Historical depictions had been typically commissioned David however conceived produced and promoted his work for profit 22 He produced marketing material to accompany the first exhibition Le Tableau des Sabines Expose Publiquement au Palais National des Sciences et des Arts the Tableau of the Sabines Public Exhibition at the National Palace of Arts and Science contained his own account of the historic episode and had an endnote explaining his rationale for using nudity in the painting 23 Its 1799 exhibition attracted a large number of paying visitors for several years In 1819 David sold Les Sabines and his Leonidas at Thermopylae to the Royal Museums for 10 000 francs citation needed Starting in 1977 France issued a series of stamps featuring the head of Hersilia based on David s painting 24 After the expulsion of artists including David from the Louvre the painting was held in the ancient church of Cluny which he used as a workshop That building is now operated as the Musee de Cluny See also editList of paintings by Jacques Louis DavidFootnotes editExplanatory notes edit Her identity is unknown as Delecluze does not specify her first name Daudet claims that there were three women with that surname in Paris at the time but to have been unable to ascertain which Delecluze intended 9 References edit Kraus 2010 p 192 Roberts 1992 pp 90 112 a b c Bordes 2022 p 214 a b de Villars 1850 p 161 Muther 1895 p 164 165 a b c Lajer Burcharth 1999 p 141 Gueniffey 2015 p 197 de Villars 1850 p 161 Lajer Burcharth 1999 p 141 Daudet 1903 p 603 Delecluze 1855 p 192 a b Grimaldo Grigsby 1998 p 326 de Villars 1850 p 162 a b Delecluze 1855 p 194 Lajer Burcharth 1999 pp 141 145 Grimaldo Grigsby 1998 p 311 Johnson 2006 p 131 Halliday 2006 pp 202 211 Lajer Burcharth 1999 p 132 Gover 1999 p 149 Bordes 2005 p 11 Halliday 2006 Halliday 2006 p 199 n 1 1 quoting Dorothy Johnson In Search of a Beholder On the Relation between Art Audiences and Social Spheres in Post Thermidor France Art Bulletin vol 74 1992 pp 19 36 David 1800 Gibbons 2012 Bibliography editBordes Phillipe 2022 Jacques Louis David Radical Draftsman New Haven Yale University Press ISBN 9781588397461 Bordes Phillipe 2005 Jacques Louis David Empire to Exile New Haven Yale University Press ISBN 9780300104479 Daudet Ernest 1903 Les Dames de Bellegarde Mœurs des temps de la Revolution I Autour du Chateau des Marches Revue des Deux Mondes journal 5 in French 17 570 603 via Wikisource David Jacques Louis 1800 Le tableau des Sabines expose publiquement au Palais national des sciences et des arts in French Paris Pierre Didot retrieved 12 December 2016 de Villars Miette 1850 Memoires de David Peintre et Depute a La Convention in French Paris a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Delecluze Etienne Jean 1855 Louis David Son Ecole et Son Temps in French Paris Bonaventure and Ducessois Gibbons Stanley 2012 Stamps of the World Stanley Gibbons ISBN 9780852598382 Gover Louise Juliet 1999 Invisibles et presentes par tout Re viewing Women from the Ancient Past in Late Eighteenth Century French Art PDF Ph D University College London Archived from the original PDF on 2023 02 12 Retrieved 2023 02 12 Grimaldo Grigsby Darcy 1998 Nudity a la grecque in 1799 The Art Bulletin 80 2 311 335 JSTOR 3051235 Gueniffey Patrice 2015 Bonaparte Harvard University Press ISBN 9780674368354 Halliday Tony 2006 The Trouble with Tatius Oxford Art Journal 29 2 197 211 doi 10 1093 oxartj kcl002 JSTOR 3841012 Johnson Dorothy 2006 David and Napoleonic Painting In Johnson Dorothy ed Jacques Louis David New Perspectives Newark University of Delaware Press pp 131 143 ISBN 9780874139303 Kraus Heidi 2010 David architecture and the dichotomy of art Ph D University of Iowa Retrieved 2023 02 16 Lajer Burcharth Ewa 1999 Necklines The Art of Jacques Louis David After the Terror New Haven Yale University Press ISBN 9780300074215 Muther Richard 1895 The History of Modern Painting Vol 1 London Henry and Co Roberts Warren 1992 Jacques Louis David Revolutionary Artist Art Politics and the French Revolution Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina Press ISBN 0807843504 External links editDavid The Sabine Women A video discussion about the painting from Smarthistory Khan Academy https collections louvre fr en ark 53355 cl010065426 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Intervention of the Sabine Women amp oldid 1183640472, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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