A Comparative Study Of Poussin And Rubens’ The Rape Of Sabine Women

Nicolas Poussin(1594-1665)and Peter Paul Rubens(1577-1640)belong to the same group of 17 th century Baroque masters.Although Poussin and Rubens lived in the same era,their artistic styles were so different that art history has often viewed the two artists in a dichotomous light.This paper selects and compares Poussin’s "The Rape of Sabine Women" with Rubens’ "The Rape of Sabine Women",and firstly,from the perspective of a painting practitioner,compares the origin and development of the motif of "The Rape of Sabine Women".We then focus on the images of Poussin and Rubens’ "The Rape of Sabine Women" and analyze them in detail from three aspects:style,technique and creative intent,and analyze how Poussin and Rubens creatively use their own patterns,compositions and languages to express themselves when faced with the same theme according to the basic logic of painting.Through this comparison,we can recognize the commonalities and differences between Poussin and Rubens,as well as the many reasons for these differences,but at the root,the differences in their creative personalities eventually led them to different artistic paths,and formed the sublime style of Poussin and the baroque style of Rubens.The purpose of this paper is to deepen the knowledge and understanding of the artistic phenomenon of different expressions of the same theme in art history,and hopefully to bring some inspiration to the creative methods and ideas of thematic creation nowadays.