Name of Object:

The Abduction

Also known as:

Liberation of a Maid; Scene from the Legend of St. Ladislav; The Rape of Proserpina

Location:

Governor’s Palace, Brno, Moravia, Czech Republic

Holding Museum:

Moravian Gallery, Brno

 About Moravian Gallery, Brno, Governor’s Palace, Brno

Current Owner:

Moravian Gallery, Brno

Date of Object:

c. 1759

Artist(s) / Craftsperson(s):

Franz Anton Maulbertsch  (1724, Langenargen-1796, Vienna)

Museum Inventory Number:

Z 1644

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

H: 73.5 cm; w: 52.4 cm

Provenance:

Private owner

Type of object:

Painting

Place of production:

Vienna? Brno?

Description:

As the subject of the painting is unknown, it is referred to here as The Abduction, which may be interpreted in this case as both rape and liberation. On the left emerges the sketched figure of a defeated man, his head severed. It is worthy of note that the artist paid attention to the position of the sword; no warrior ever allowed his sword to remain on the ground in combat. As is obvious from the central section, the sword does not belong to the horseman. The “abduction” of a young woman, dressed in a fine white robe with gold ornaments and a pearl clasp in her hair, whose eyes are fixed on the viewer, seems not to be the result of a fight between the two men. The armour of the horseman with a red cloak, flag, and a helmet with flying-bat ornamentation, along with the harness of his white horse, indicate that the scene was derived from a history scene or a heroic epic (possibly Alexander or Troya?).
Despite the difficulty in deciphering the theme, this does not diminish the spectacular nature of the picture. The artist's virtuoso brushwork does much to absorb the viewer. Maulbertsch depicts the dramatic situation in lighter tones and impasto accents underlined by the intense light he introduces. Red, blue and yellow, spreading from the centre, supplements the diagonal composition.
The artist was clearly inspired by Rembrandt's use of chiaroscuro, and by the work of Peter Paul Rubens, especially Oreithia Seized by Boreas and the Marie de' Medici cycle. Maulbertsch would have studied the work of both these painters at the Vienna Academy. A white horse foaming at the mouth was among Maulbertsch's favourite motifs, as was the “action” scene of a kidnapped woman. Prominent during the Habsburg monarchy in the mid-18th century, this small, sketch-like picture is typical of Maulbertsch's original style.

The impossibility of deciphering the theme represented here makes the picture all the more attractive. The artist’s virtuoso brushwork along with his use of light, enhance the picture. Prominent during the Habsburg monarchy in the mid-18th century, this work is a typical of Maulbertsch’s original style.

How date and origin were established:

The motifs and the rendering employed correspond with Maulbertsch’s original style of the 1750s. This style is typified by an expressive exaggeration sometimes resulting in deformed shapes and energetic impasto brushwork.

How Object was obtained:

The picture was acquired from a private owner in 1946.

Selected bibliography:

Klára Garas, Franz Anton Maulbertsch 1724–1796, Budapest, 1960, pp. 51, 207, no. 116.
Vlasta Kratinová, Malířství 18. století na Moravě ze sbírek Moravské galerie, Brno, 1968, p. 29, cat. 35.
Ivo Krsek, Maulbertschovo „Vysvobození panny“ v Moravské galerii v Brně. (Ke vztahu Maulbertsche k Rubensovi), Umění XXVII, 1979, pp. 59–66.
Luigi Ronzoni, in Hellmut Lorenz (ed), Geschichte der bildenden Kunst in Österreich, I. Barock, Münich–­­London–­­New York, 1999, pp. 443–444, cat. 180.
Lubomír Slavíček, in Jiří Kroupa (ed), Dans le miroir des ombres. La Moravie a la age baroque 1760–1790, Brno–Paris–Rennes, 2002, pp. 220–222, cat. 78.

Citation of this web page:

Zora Wörgötter "The Abduction" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;BAR;cz;Mus11;37;en

Prepared by: Zora WörgötterZora Wörgötter

SURNAME: Wörgötter
NAME: Zora

AFFILIATION: Moravian Gallery in Brno

TITLE: Museum Curator and Local Co-ordinator

CV:
Zora Wörgötter studied Applied Painting at the Secondary School of Applied Arts, Video Art (Faculty of Fine Arts) at the University of Technology in Brno and Art History and Ethnology (Faculty of Arts) at Masaryk University, Brno. She has worked at the Moravian Gallery since 1997 and was curator of the Ancient Art Collection up until 2008. Specialising in Dutch and Central European painting of the 17th and 18th centuries, she has participated in the preparation of several exhibitions, catalogues and research projects in the Czech Republic and abroad, and published in the Moravian Gallery Bulletin, Opuscula historiae artium, and other journals. She is co-ordinator of the Art History Database www.ahice.net for the Czech Republic.
Copyedited by: Jiří KroupaJiří Kroupa

SURNAME: Kroupa
NAME: Jiří

AFFILIATION: Department of the History of Art (Faculty of Arts) Masaryk
University, Brno

TITLE: Professor

CV:
Professor Jiří Kroupa studied Art History, History and Sociology Masaryk University, Brno. He was a curator at the Kroměříž Museum and the Moravian Gallery in Brno before joining the staff at Masaryk University in 1988 (Head of the Department 1992–2002; Professor 1999 to present). His particular fields of interest are in the history of architecture, 18th-century cultural history and the methodology of art history. His long list of publications includes an edition on the architect Franz Anton Grimm and an essay “The alchemy of happiness: the Enlightenment in the Moravian context”. He was contributing editor for the volume Dans le miroir des ombres. Moravie a la age baroque. 1670–1790 (2002).
Translation by: Irma Charvátová
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: CZ 38