Personal Narrative: Capture Of The Sabine Women

It was difficult for me to choose just one piece of art that I felt I particularly admired above the rest, I’m indecisive by nature and I have a great appreciation for most forms of art. Eventually, after flipping through all the pages in the textbook, bookmarking each and every piece I liked and then sorting through it all, I decided my favorite was Capture of the Sabine Women by Giambologna. The piece is morbid, disturbing, and not at all what most would consider a favorite, it’s nothing like the colorful complexity of Van Gogh’s Starry Night or the calm coolness of Monet’s Water Lilies but I have always valued pieces that entice an emotional response from me above those whose value is intrinsically aesthetic.
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The statue is nothing if not emotional, a woman, held tight against her captor, is being forced against her will to comply while a witness is a victim to the scene. It is horrific, it is tragic, it is entirely painful, but it is also amazingly beautiful. The marble the figures were crafted from is so incredibly detailed that every muscle, every expression, every vain, and even the smallest dimples are purposely and craftily executed. The statue is designed in a spiral
The witnesses horror, while muted while facing the Roman, becomes incredibly apparent once facing the woman herself, her struggle more defined from the soldier's right, and the captor’s power or strength more focused from the back. It’s