Luca Giordano (Italian, 1632–1705)
The Abduction of the Sabine Women
INV-1116
Luca Giordano (Italian, 1632–1705)c. 1675
The Abduction of the Sabine Women
Luca Giordano (Italian, 1632–1705) →17th Centuryoil on canvasItalian
Date
c. 1675
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
260 × 295 cm (102 × 116 in.); Framed: 296 × 327.1 × 11.4 cm (116 1/2 × 128 3/4 × 4 1/2 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Major Acquisitions Centennial Endowment; Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection
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 inspiration from earlier treatments of the subject into one of his most theatrical and geometrically complex works.
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