The Intervention of the Sabine Women

David painted The Intervention of the Sabine Women around 1799, depicting the Roman legendary episode in which the Sabine women — carried off by the Romans as wives — intervene between their fathers and brothers (the Sabine army) and their Roman husbands to prevent the continuation of the war. The composition showed David's return to classical antiquity after the politically engaged work of the Revolutionary period: the heroes are naked in the manner of ancient Greek warriors rather than Roman soldiers, reflecting his engagement with Greek as well as Roman visual culture. The work is also understood as an allegory of reconciliation in the post-Thermidorian period, the women of France calling for peace after years of revolutionary violence.

David composes a monumental frieze of heroic nude and semi-nude figures in the manner of antique relief sculpture. The crystalline clarity of the drawing and the sculptural modeling represent the purest expression of his Neoclassical ideal.