VERY IMPORTANT BRONZE "RAPE OF THE SABINE WOMEN" AFTER JOHN OF BOLOGNA, 19TH CENTURY

A very large bronze sculpture with a brown patina, based on the group "The Rape of the Sabine Women" by Giambologna of Bologna. This rotating composition depicts three figures in motion: a defeated man on the ground with his shield turned upside down, a second man arching his back and grasping a woman reaching towards the sky as she attempts to escape, all set against a naturalistic base. The Sabine, the Roman, and the Sabine woman are all depicted nude. This composition plays on a play of serpentine lines, known as "figura serpentinata," and diagonals, creating a beautiful variety of volumes and multiple viewpoints. The bronze is signed F. De Luca, for Ferdinando De Luca, a 19th-century Italian sculptor who adapted the model for casting. The group rests on a black marble base.

The original marble sculpture was created by Giambologna (1529-1608) between 1574 and 1582, commissioned by Francesco 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 valued having bronze casts of this sculpture in their collections.

Base size: 34.5 cm x 41 cm (13.58 in x 16.14 in)

Circa: 1880

Condition report: In good overall condition.