Rape of the Sabine women.

Drawing, pen and black ink, heightened with white, 42 x 18 (bottom) x 5 cm (top), laid down on brown paper (trimmed to the image, paper irregularly cut, several sm. tears with loss of image near bottom, brown stain at left edge).

Under grey-green passe-partout, under orn. wooden frame (not studied outside frame).

An excellent drawing copied after Andrea Andreani's (1558-1629) chiaroscuro woodcut. The woodcut was produced at the same time as the actual statue by Giambologna (1529-1608) which stands in the Loggia dei Lanzi at the Piazza della Signoria in Florence. The iconic sculpture was inaugurated in 1583, and already in 1584 Andreani published a series of 3 chiaroscuro woodcuts depicting the statue from various angles. Two of them were dedicated to the Florentine art collector Niccolò Gaddi. The drawing loyally copied the print, as it also included the inscription at the lower left corner. It is a testimony to the popularity of both the Flemish sculptor Giambologna and the Italian printmaker.
Ref. J. Van Gastel, "Andrea Andreani's chiaroscuro houtsneden naar Giambologna", Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 55 (2007), pp. 14-39.