VERY IMPORTANT BRONZE "ABDUCTION OF A SABINE WOMAN" AFTER JEAN DE BOLOGNE, 19TH CENTURY

Very large bronze sculpture with brown patina, based on the group "The Rape of the Sabine Women" by John of Bologna (Giambologna). This pivoting composition shows three figures in motion: a man on the ground defeated with his shield turned upside down, a second one arched clutching a woman launched towards the sky trying to escape, all on a naturalistic base. The Sabine man, the Roman and the Sabine woman are all depicted naked. This staging plays on serpentine lines known as "figura serpentinata" and diagonals giving a beautiful variety of volumes and a multiplicity of angles of view. The bronze is signed F. De Luca, for Ferdinando De Luca, a 19th century Italian sculptor who adapted the model for casting. The group stands on a black marble base.

The marble original was sculpted by Giambologna (1529-1608) between 1574 and 1582 on commission from Francis I de' Medici for the Loggia dei Lanzi in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy. This work is characteristic of Mannerism. Nineteenth-century connoisseurs particularly appreciated having bronze proofs of this sculpture in their collections.

Size of base: 34.5 cm x 41 cm (13.58 in x 16.14 in)
19th Century, Circa: 1880
Dim: W: 52cm, D: 38cm, H: 93cm.
Size: W: 20,5in, D: 15in, H: 36,6in.
Condition report: In good condition.