Wax model for the Rape of the Sabines, by Giambologna, Florence, ca.1579-1580

The group shows a male figure lifting a struggling woman in his arms. His right hand rests on her left hip, and the upper part of her body is supported against his left shoulder. Both heads, the arms and left foot of the woman, and part of the left arm and the lower part of both legs of the male figure are missing. On a base of wood and lead and supported by an armature of an iron nail.

This model was acquired as part of the Gherardini Collection as a sketch-model for Giambologna's Rape of the Sabines. After it's purchase it was catalogued as "after Giovanni Bologna", and was ignored by Robinson. However, it was regarded as a putative original by Maclagan and Longhurst, and is confirmed as such by Dhanens and Pope-Hennessy.

Historical significance: The present piece is linked with another version of the Rape of the Sabines in wax by Giambologna in the V&A, 1092-1854. Both mark different stages in the development of the composition of arguably the artist's most important work, the Rape of the Sabines in the Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence. The present piece is made up of only two surviving figures, a male supporting a female in the air. A composition such as this could not be executed in marble as the bulk of the weight of the piece would necessarily be high up and could not be supported at the ankles of the male figure in marble. It is therefore most likely that this group was the sketch-model for Giambologna's bronze version, which would have the tensile strength to support the composition. Examples of the bronze version survive in the Kunsthistorischesmuseum in Vienna and the Museo Nationale di Capodimonte, Naples and are known to have been cast for Ottavio Farnese in 1579. The deterioration and many losses to this group mean that it is possible that a third figure was present at the base of the group, or was inserted at a later date. For a full discussion of the three-figure version, see 1092-1854.

The present piece is linked with another version of the Rape of the Sabines in wax by Giambologna in the V&A, 1092-1854. Both mark different stages in the development of the composition of arguably the artist's most important work, the Rape of the Sabines in the Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence. The present piece is made up of only two surviving figures, a male supporting a female in the air. A composition such as this could not be executed in marble as the bulk of the weight of the piece would necessarily be high up and could not be supported at the ankles of the male figure in marble. It is therefore most likely that this group was the sketch-model for Giambologna's bronze version, which would have the tensile strength to support the composition. Examples of the bronze version survive in the Kunsthistorischesmuseum in Vienna and the Museo Nationale di Capodimonte, Naples and are known to have been cast for Ottavio Farnese in 1579. The deterioration and many losses to this group mean that it is possible that a third figure was present at the base of the group, or was inserted at a later date.

4125-1854