Why it matters
Hersilia throws herself between her husband Romulus and her father Tatius, placing her babies between the warring Romans and Sabines. David, who conceived the painting after his estranged wife visited him in prison, made it a plea for reconciliation after the bloodshed of the Revolution.
Did you know?
- He worked on it from 1796 to 1799.
- The rock in the background is the Tarpeian Rock, where traitors were thrown to their death.
- The towering walls have been read as a reference to the Bastille.
Based on the Wikipedia article The Intervention of the Sabine Women (CC BY-SA 4.0).
