# The Rape of the Sabine Women [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [SODOMA, Il]() - Date: 1501-1550 - Technique: Oil on panel, 76 x 170 cm ## Commentary This painting is variously dated to between 1501 and 1515 and to 1506-07 on account of the stylistic similarities to other works of the artist from this same moment. The subject of the painting is based on Plutarch's narrative of the rape of the Sabine women. The painting was once, however, identified as the Story of Rhea Silvia. The complex iconography treats the narrative of abduction through the selection of the moment when Ersilia is brought to Romulus, to whom she is destined to be paired. The statue of Neptune, visible in the background, situates the precise narrative moment. Many copies have been made of this composition. ## Related artworks - [Allegory of Celestial Love]() - [Benedict Presents the Olivetan Monks with His Rule]() - [Cupid in a Landscape]() - [Deposition from the Cross \(detail\)]() - [Deposition from the Cross]() - [Ecce Homo]() - [Flagellation of Christ]() - [Life of St Benedict, Scene 1: Benedict Leaves His Parent's House]() - [Life of St Benedict, Scene 11: Benedict Founds Twelve Monasteries]() - [Life of St Benedict, Scene 12: Benedict Receives Maurus and Placidus \(detail\)]() - [Life of St Benedict, Scene 12: Benedict Receives Maurus and Placidus]() - [Life of St Benedict, Scene 13: Benedict Frees a Monk]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()