Louvre

The intervention of a Sabina woman

The intervention of a Sabina woman, Jacques-Louis David.

The central woman is stopping a bloodbath. She belonged to the town of Sabines and had been kidnapped by the Romans. When the Sabines try to rescue her, a war between them takes place. At that time, she intervenes between her husband, the king of Rome, and her father, the king of the Sabines. If we look at the details, we see that the painting is located in Rome, because you can see the walls of the Capitol. A woman in the center is pointing to a child, another is pulling towards the feet of a warrior.

David was a French painter and the neoclassical father of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In his painting, he always sought inspiration in Greek sculptural and mythological models, based on his austerity and severity. He was very active during the French Revolution, especially under the government of Robespierre and Napoleon Bonaparte. This picture is created exactly under the Revolution to call for the reconciliation of the French people after this huge civil conflict.

This picture is important because it inspires that necessary reconciliation for the French people. One can be seen in the painting that a rider on the right is sheathing his sword, while in the distance helmets and hands are raised in peace. The female figure is also crucial because it is she who begins the search for peace, something that is not necessarily repeated in all David's works.