The Sabines ~ Jacques-Louis David Antique Print

Beautiful folio size antique photogravure print from the picture by Jacques-Louis David (click thumbnails above for larger size image).

Printed on heavyweight cream stock. Plate mark present. Reverse side is blank.

It's hard to appreciate the stunning detail and clarity of this print until you see it in person.

After the abduction of the Sabine women by the neighboring Romans, the Sabines attempted to get them back. David shows the Sabine women intervening to stop the battle raging beneath the ramparts of the Capitol in Rome. The painting is a masterful summary of the whole episode. Hersilia is leaping between her father Tatius, the king of the Sabines, on the left, and her husband Romulus, the king of Rome, on the right. A woman is pointing at her children; another has thrown herself at a warrior's feet. The picture also evokes the happy consequences of their intervention. The horseman on the right is putting his sword back into its sheath while, further away, hands and helmets are raised in gestures of peace. Unlike in David's previous paintings (The Oath of the Horatii, Brutus, Louvre), women play the crucial role here.

Title: The Sabines

Publication: Great Masters in the Louvre Gallery

Publication Year: 1899-1900

Publisher: D. Appleton & Goupil & Co. (New York & Paris)

Approximate Page Size (in inches): 16¾ x 12½

Approximate Image Size (in inches): 13 x 9½

Condition: EX. Very clean.