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Notes
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Shortly after the founding of their city, the ancient Romans were faced with a serious problem: they had no wives, and therefore no children and no future. Their leader Romulus came up with an inventive and unscrupulous solution: they hosted celebratory games and invited their neighbours, the Sabines, to bring their families. At a given signal, the Romans seized the young Sabine women, carried them off and married them.Appalled at this barbarous behaviour, the Sabines waged war, but the abducted women intervened to stop the fighting. Peace was declared, and according to the Roman historian Livy, 'they made one people out of two'.This painting is one of two from the front of a cassone, a large decorated chest that was an important piece of domestic furniture during the Italian Renaissance.
Title
The Rape of the Sabines (before the signal)
Date
about 1490
Medium
Tempera on spruce
Measurements
H 45.4 x W 49.2 cm
Accession number
NG1211
Acquisition method
Bought, 1886
Work type
Painting