The Abduction of a Sabine Woman

1584

The Abduction of a Sabine Woman, 1584. Andrea Andreani (Italian, about 1558–1610), after Giambologna (Flemish, active Italy, 1529–1608). Chiaroscuro woodcut; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland 1925.1221 A pinnacle of sculpture in the generation after Michelangelo was Giambologna’s Abduction of the Sabine Women, depicted here in a contemporaneous print by Andrea Andreani. Giambologna created a twisting harmony of three forms that capture the narrative of a Roman male abducting a Sabine woman and vanquishing a Sabine male below. Giambologna’s sculpture was installed in Florence in the public piazza near Michelangelo’s David. The Abduction of a Sabine Woman is the first attempt in the chiaroscuro technique by Andrea Andreani, as well as the first chiaroscuro ever to depict a work of sculpture.