The Sabine Women’s story is an ancient tale from Rome.The Romans were in need of wives to populate and found their families, so at the command of Romulus, their leader, they abducted the Sabine women during a festival. And after Titus Tatius knew about the incident, he gathered his army and led an attack on Rome. David’s The Intervention of the Sabine Women depicts the scene after these events, where the Sabine women, led by Hersilia, the wife of Romulus, threw themselves into the midst of the fighting, and eventually managed to stop the fighting. This prevented further bloodshed between their Roman husbands and Sabine fathers and brothers.
This painting was done after the French Revolution, and it can be seen as David’s call for unity, peace and reconciliation among his people, and the message of the triumph of love over conflict can also be interpreted as well. The heroics of the Sabine women are also a tribute to David’s wife, whom had helped and supported him when he was in jail.
In the foreground, the leading characters of Tatius, who is on the left, Hersilia, who is dressed in white, and Romulus, who has the symbol of the wolf emblazon on his shield, are central to the message that David is trying to impart. The white colored gown, which is the prominent feature of Hersilia’s character, allows Hersilia be seen the envoy of peace, as white is, and always has been a universal symbol for Romulus to make any hostile moves against Tatius. Both Tatius and Romulus’ gesture adheres to David’s message of peace and reconciliation.
In the background, anti-conflict messages and gestures of peace can also be found. The horsemen behind Romulus can be seen sheathing his swords, a downturn sword is raised near the middle of the painting and the spears of both armies are pointing skywards, instead of each other, which is an indication of the ending of the conflict. Women carrying their children plunge themselves into the middle of the battlefield to break of the fighting. These figures seems to be vividly shouting the message of “Stop fighting, think of the children and think of suffering you are inflicting on our next generation!” to the viewers. These messages that David is trying to communicate accurately reflects David’s view of the direction his fellow French should take in the post-revolution era.
As mentioned earlier, Tatius, Hersilia and Romulus in the foreground stands out prominently among the clamor of the scene, and the emphasis on them to show their importance, is achieved by making them larger, more detailed, and thus clear than the figures in the background. Details in the background are less discernable and even indistinct, which is a stark contrast to David’s meticulous attention and realistic depiction of the features and details of the attires and bodies of these three characters. More vivid color, such as the intense red in Tatius’ cape, the striking white of Hersilia’s gown and the unique golden color of Romulus’ shield achieve David’s intent of emphasizing these three characters. However, color begins to fade into a duller value and intensity as the painting goes deeper into the background, and this de-emphasizes the images in background. This difference in colors in different depth of the paining is a feature that can be found in Neoclassicism paintings. All these elements are also David’s manipulation of the atmospheric perspective, which adds spatiality to the painting.
Another factor used in this painting to emphasize the characters in the foreground is the usage of unique geometrical devices on the figures of Tatius and Romulus, and these devices cannot be found another where else in the painting. And the shapes are the oval and the circle, which can be found in the shield of Tatius and Romulus respectively. And both the oval and circle shares many similar characteristics and are essentially a variation of one another. This can be seen as David’s portrayal of the close relationships that is shared by the two different people, such as familial ties, and this gives the people more reason to stop fighting against each other. This is an accurate reflection of the situation in post-revolution France, as well as David’s wish for reconciliation. The rounded shaped of the circle and oval can also be seen as a symbol of reunion, and this fits well into David’s theme of reconciliation.
Strong geometrical compositions can also be found throughout the background. The most prominent is the rectangular composition, which can be clearly seen in the citadel at the back. The walls are mostly composed of rectangular shapes, and the windows there are almost exclusively made up of rectangles. Less obvious geometrical composition exists in the arrangement of the mass of raised spears that forms an implied line that cuts across the middle of the painting. This gives the mass of people and weapons in the background a vague rectangular shape. The abundant usage of geometrical devices is a commonly seen feature in Neoclassicism paintings.
The characteristic of Neoclassicism painting that can be found in this painting is the inclusion of classical elements, despite the fact that this is a tale of Roman origin. The weaponry present in this painting, such as the long spears, Romulus’ hoplon, or rounded shield, and Tatius’ helmet, all bear striking resemblance to the weapons used by the ancient Greek soldiers. Another image that carries strong classical element can be found at the top of the citadel. Although only the side view of the structure s displayed, one can clearly see the post-and-lintel structure and the pedimented roof, and such features are trademarks of Greek classical architecture.
The only emotion shown in this painting is from the women, who were allowed to feel. Their emotions are displayed prominently in their desperate face and pleading gestures. The men, however, are set to do their duty with heroic determination, which is a typical portrayal of men in Classical period, and no trace of emotions can be found on them. This is a far cry from the amount of emotions overflowing from Caravaggio’s Judith and Holofernes. And this might be David’s method of establishing clearly what he truly wishes to communicate in this painting, which is the underlying theme for peace and reconciliation.
Video Rating: 0 / 5
More How To Get In Shape For Women Articles