Art Commentary of the Rape of the Sabine Women by Pablo Picasso

The painting that I chose to write this commentary on is called Rape of the Sabine Women by Pablo Picasso. This work was made by Picasso in France, Picasso painted this in 1963 and it is oil on canvas. This particular piece is located in the Museum of Fine Arts, in Boston Massachusetts, USA. This particular museum holds many of Picasso's works as well as a very large Spanish collection.

This particular painting shows an episode in the early history of Rome narrated by Livy and Plutarch, which is an ancient story about an incident that occurred between the Romans and the Sabines in which the Romans were in need of wives to populate and found their families. The Sabine's did not wish to give their women to the Romans for fear of loss of territory so the Romans invited the Sabine's to the Festival of Neptune Equester as a show of good faith and generosity when Romulus gave the signal the Romans fought the Sabine men and abducted the Sabine women. In this case, the word rape refers the Latin word rapere �â'¬Å"abduction.�â'¬ï¿½

In this particular painting, Pablo Picasso has molded his depiction of history after that of Jacques-Louis David's previous The Sabine Women Enforcing Peace by Running Between the Combatants (also known as The Intervention of the Sabine Women). In Picasso's version of the painting, he is showing a brutal and relentless side of the Romans where Romulus and Tatius are on horseback weapons in hand and raised to strike, as they trample Hersilia and her child. Picasso stays true to his personal style and paints this in abstract form; this particular work contains aspects of surrealism. This was one of Picasso's last major statements through art as he died only some years after.

This painting is oil on canvas with deep colors of grey, black, blue, red. The background is light and vibrant with the foreground having a brighter red color so that it could be the focus point of the painting. The painting shows a clear sky as if it was a beautiful day when this tragic event occurred. The lines are straight strokes with a curvature they seem to be light and free and the volume is pointing down. The setting is diagonal, as the portrait seems to have an upside down triangle frame. The two soldiers are on each side of Hersilia and her child. The two soldiers are big and dominating while Hersilia and her child are both trampled and deformed. The deformity represents the struggle and plight that they endured and forbids them to protect themselves for they now are not able. The soldier on the left is wearing red as is Hersilia defining them both as Sabine's where as the soldier on the right is wearing a traditional Roman soldier headgear. In addition, the spear in the Sabine's hand represents a weaker opponent as the Roman soldier commands a sword showing superiority. Picasso portrays a side of the story where the Romans show no mercy and have no sympathy for the Sabines. They wanted something and they forcefully took it.

Picasso painted Abstract art and in his art, he developed different periods. Picasso painted in cubism, analytical cubism, classicism, and surrealism. In the painting Picasso is in his early 80s, his style has been fluctuating for many years at this point in his life. This work is in a surrealist style; Picasso's personal style and preferred. Picasso painted this particular work for a cause. It was meant to be viewed for years to come and was meant to be a reminder. Picasso's statement was to echo beyond the period of this work but into the future for decades to come. Only later, after Picasso's death, when the rest of the art world had moved on from abstract expressionism, did the critical community come to see that Picasso had already discovered neo-expressionism and was, as so often before, ahead of his time. A message is instilled in the painting that Picasso has done, for this painting. Picasso has set a trend in his works and art that artists all over the world try to perfect and mimic.

He chose to do this painting in his neo-expressionistic style but the original painting that he modeled it after came from Jacques-Louis David, which is a much more depictive and violent work. There have been many different versions and depictions of this particular scene in history. Picasso also painted several different version of this paining. Picasso's trend in his later years was to spread the word of peace and anti-war, which is what this painting had come to mean. Picasso intentionally painted this scene in a time of crisis and turmoil.

Picasso felt very deeply about war, violence, and human rights issues. One of his earlier works La Guernica is arguably one of his most famous for depicting a message of anti-war. During the time of this painting, the Cuban Missile Crisis was in full force and there was much worry across the globe on what would happen to the safety of Americans and Cubans. Picasso was an advocate of anti-war and anti-violence and was very vocal about his sentiments. Picasso himself had, in his past, been subjected to dehumanization and had felt the affects of war. Picasso knew all to well the horrible acts and violence that war can bring upon a people Picasso has never really had any interest in politics until around 1936 when Franco declared an air attack on Madrid and proceeded to bomb The Prado. Picasso became enraged and became a spokesperson for the Republic against Franco's blatant destruction of Spanish Art.

This particular piece is located in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston Massachusetts, USA and is available on many tours. It is classified into European paintings, Spanish paintings, MFA images weapons and war, and war and discontent. This work according to the museum was acquired from France and then put on display in the museum.