The Intervention of the Sabine Women

The Intervention of the Sabine Women

Jacques-Louis David

Fifteen years after The Oath of the Horatii, David turned to another episode from Roman history, but the context in which he painted it was radically different. In 1791, following the French Revolution, he voted the death of Louis XVI (who had commissioned the Horatii painting), and the artist’s political sympathies subsequently led to his imprisonment. It was in prison that he had the idea for this painting based on the story of the Sabine women: when Rome was founded, the shortage of women prompted the Romans to abduct the daughters of their neighbours, the Sabines, sparking a battle between the two cities. The Sabine women intervened at this point, convincing the enemies to unite as one nation. The message of the painting was clear: the artist was advocating the reconciliation of the French people after the upheaval of the Revolution of 1789. David himself regarded this painting as his masterpiece for its ‘pure Greekness’; he felt it came close to the ideal of beauty upheld by the ancient Greeks.