"the Rape Of The Sabine Women", After The Work Of John Of Bologna (circa 1529-1608).

Large sculpted bronze group with a nuanced brown patina representing "The Rape of the Sabine Women", after the work of John of Bologna (circa. 1529-1608).

This spiral composition depicts three figures in movement: a defeated man on the ground, a second arched man clutching a woman reaching towards the sky trying to escape.

This is a cast after the famous work of John of Bologna, of which he created several versions including the one presented in Florence in the Loggia dei Lanzi.

The upper arm of the Sabine woman would appear to have a crack on the inner part, but it seems more likely that it is an old cast with a part added, which would be confirmed on the photo of the lower ankle of this same Sabine woman.

We specify the absence of an original counter base, most likely in marble: the photo of the underside of the object shows in its center an old trace of threading.

The nuanced patina, the faces, the added limbs, the aging of the cast visible underneath, as well as multiple areas of contact friction under the base suggest an Italian cast from the first part of the 19th century or even the end of the 18th.

Such casts were typically part of the great Cabinets of Amateurs in the 18th and 19th centuries and this version is particularly beautiful, with superb casting and very beautiful details.

Height: 34.6 cm.
Width: approximately 17 cm.
Width of the base: 11.4 cm.

Born in Flanders, John of Bologna, also known as Giambologna, is one of the most renowned sculptors of the second part of the Renaissance. His flourishing career in Italy saw him create works that still captivate art lovers today. Thanks to the support of patrons such as the Medici, Giovanni di Bologna was particularly renowned for his mastery of marble and bronze sculpture techniques. His ability to capture movement and emotion revolutionized the sculpture of his time.

Originally intended only to demonstrate the artist's ability to compose a complex sculptural group, the theme of the Rape of the Sabine Women was found after Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, decreed that it be publicly displayed in the Loggia dei Lanzi in the Piazza della Signoria, Florence.

The statue depicts three figures (a man lifting a woman above a second crouching man) and was carved from a single block of marble. The proposed site for the sculpture, opposite Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus, led some to believe that the theme was related to that work, like the abduction of Andromeda by Phineus. The abductions of Proserpina and Helen of Troy were also considered as possible themes. Finally, it was decided that the sculpture actually referred to one of the Sabine virgins abducted by the Romans during the ancient history of Latium.

This work is a technical feat: the artist fits three figures on a single base, their bodies arranged in a serpentine line.

Bronze reductions of the sculpture, produced in Giambologna's personal studio or by copyists, were almost always part of the collections of 19th-century connoisseurs.