# Rape of a Sabine [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [GIAMBOLOGNA]() - Date: 1551-1600 - Technique: Marble, height 410 cm ## Commentary The Rape of a Sabine marked the climax of Giambologna's career as an official Medici sculptor. This great marble was unveiled in the Loggia dei Lanzi in January 1583 in place of Donatello's Judith. The group is indebted to Giambologna's study of Hellenistic sculpture, particularly in the voids which penetrate the three interlocked figures. On a technical level it represents the fullfilment of an aspiration from antiquity. Ancient sources record sculptures made from a single block, a claim which the Renaissance discovered was not true. Giambologna intended to surpass antiquity by sculpting a large group from a single block that also involved a complicated lift. The result is the first sculpture with no principal viewpoints, it forms a spiral that is the culmination of the "figura serpentina". ## Related artworks - [Abduction Scene]() - [Allegory of Astronomy]() - [Allegory of Francesco I de' Medici]() - [Allegory of Prince Francesco I de Medici]() - [Altar of Liberty]() - [Altar of Liberty]() - [Angel]() - [Apollo]() - [Appenine \(detail\)]() - [Appenine]() - [Appenine]() - [Architecture]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()