1505 (ca.), Sodoma (Giovanni Antonio Bazzi), The Rape of the Sabine Women -- Palazzo Barberini (Rome)
From the museum label:
The picture unfolds like a classic frieze in the elongated format of the panel, perhaps originally a "spalliera" decoration. The dramatic action takes place against the background of ancient Rome, where we can see Castel Sant'Angelo, a more generic triumphal arch and the monument to Neptune Equester.
On the left, Romulus, on a pedestal, is giving the signal that starts the rape of the Sabine women. The central group might refer to an episode told by Tito Livio (Ab urbe condita, I: 9), according to which one of the most beautiful women was seized for a certain Thalassius. Hence, according to Livy, the propitiatory use of the Romans of invoking Thalassius during wedding ceremonies. Indeed, it is not excluded that the subject of Sodoma's painting may have been suggested by a marriage.
Link to a high-resolution close-up photo of details from this painting.
1505 (ca.), Sodoma (Giovanni Antonio Bazzi), The Rape of the Sabine Women -- Palazzo Barberini (Rome)
From the museum label:
The picture unfolds like a classic frieze in the elongated format of the panel, perhaps originally a "spalliera" decoration. The dramatic action takes place against the background of ancient Rome, where we can see Castel Sant'Angelo, a more generic triumphal arch and the monument to Neptune Equester.
On the left, Romulus, on a pedestal, is giving the signal that starts the rape of the Sabine women. The central group might refer to an episode told by Tito Livio (Ab urbe condita, I: 9), according to which one of the most beautiful women was seized for a certain Thalassius. Hence, according to Livy, the propitiatory use of the Romans of invoking Thalassius during wedding ceremonies. Indeed, it is not excluded that the subject of Sodoma's painting may have been suggested by a marriage.
Link to a high-resolution close-up photo of details from this painting.