Lot 163: The Rape of the Sabine Women

Placido Costanzi (Rome 1702-1759)
The Rape of the Sabine Women
oil on canvas
20¼ x 26 3/8 in. (51.5 x 67 cm.)

We are grateful to Professor Giancarlo Sestieri for confirming the attribution on inspection of the original.

Constanzi studied in Rome under Benedetto Luti where he was to develop a fluid and elegant style of painting close to that of his contemporary Sebastiano Conca. Among his most significant commissions are two Scenes from the Life of Cardinal Chigi Zondadari, one of which is now in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and a fresco series for the nave of San Gregorio Alcelio, Rome, completed in 1727. Costanzi was president of both the Accademia di S. Luca and the Virtuosi al Pantheon, and chose to leave his estate jointly to these two institutions, which maintained ownership of his house in Rome until 1923.