The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus

The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus

Artist	Peter Paul Rubens
Year	c. 1618
Type	oil on canvas
Dimensions	224 cm × 209 cm (88 in × 82 in)
Location	Alte Pinakothek, Munich

The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus is a 1618 painting by Peter Paul Rubens. It is now on show in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.

Description

The painting depicts the mortal Castor and the immortal Pollux abducting Phoebe and Hilaeira, daughters of Leucippus. Castor the horse-tamer is recognisable from his armour, whilst Pollux the boxer is shown with a bare and free upper body. They are also distinguished by their horses - Castor's is well-behaved and supported by a putto, whereas Pollux's is rearing. The putto's black wing shows the twins' ultimate fate. Phoebe and Hilaeira do not have distinguishing attributes and so which sister is which is unclear.

History

It was bought in Antwerp in 1716 by Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine. Initially sent to Mannheim, by 1805/06 it had reached Munich.

The painting is also notable for featuring in the Loriot sketch 'Eheberatung' (marriage counselling). Evelyn Hamann plays a marriage counsellor, with Loriot and Ingeborg Heydorn playing a couple coming for counselling. The counsellor asks the couple to describe the painting - the husband states "Two men taking two women for riding lessons", while the wife sums it up as "More of a holiday, with riding and things like that". The husband replies "The men are really helping out the ladies".

Bibliography

Alte Pinakothek-Ausgewählte Werke; [Editor: Bayerischen Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Authors: Marcus Dekiert, Nina Schleif], München; Pinakothek-DuMont, 2005, ISBN 978-3-8321-7592-4,
50 Klassiker: Gemälde, H. Johannsen, Gerstenberg, 2001, ISBN 380-672-516-0.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus.

Peter Paul Rubens

Paintings and drawings	The Deposition (1602) Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of Lerma (1603) Portrait of a Young Woman (1603) Hercules and Omphale (1603) Heraclitus and Democritus (1603) Virgin and Child (c. 1604) The Fall of Phaeton (c. 1604/1605) The Circumcision (1605) Portrait of Marchesa Brigida Spinola-Doria (1606) Portrait of a Noblewoman with a Dwarf (1606) Portrait of Giovanni Carlo Doria on Horseback (1606) Madonna della Vallicella (1606–1608) Susanna and the Elders (1607) Adoration of the Magi (Prado) (1609; 1628–29) Samson and Delilah (1609-1610) Honeysuckle Bower (1609-1610) Raising of the Cross (1610-1611) Conversion of Saint Paul (1610-1612) Massacre of the Innocents (c. 1611) Prometheus Bound (1611-1612) The Four Philosophers (1611-1612) Antwerp Resurrection (1611-1612) Descent from the Cross (1612–1614) Saint Teresa of Ávila's Vision of the Holy Spirit (1612-1614) The Defeat of Sennacherib (1612-1614) The Four Continents (1610s) Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter (1612–1614) Portrait of a Commander (1613) The Crowning of the Virtuous Hero (1613-1614) The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (1613-1615) The Death of Adonis (1614) St Sebastian (c. 1614) Madonna della Cesta (1615) Ixion, King of the Lapiths, Deceived by Juno, Who He Wished to Seduce (1615) Daniel in the Lions' Den (1615) The Hippopotamus and Crocodile Hunt (1615-1616) The Tiger Hunt (1615-1616) Florence Resurrection (1616) The Virgin and Child Surrounded by the Holy Innocents (1616) Erichthonius Discovered by the Daughters of Cecrops (c. 1616) The Wolf and Fox Hunt (c. 1616) The Lion and Leopard Hunt (c. 1616) Romulus and Remus (1615-1616) Adoration of the Magi (Cambridge) (1616-1617) Adoration of the Magi (Lyon) (1617-1618) Descent from the Cross (1616-1617) The Meeting Between Abraham and Melchizedek (1616-1617) Christ and the Penitent Sinners (1617) Mars and Rhea Silvia (1617) The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man (1617) A Bearded Man (c. 1617-18) The Five Senses (1617-18) Two Satyrs (1618) Medusa (1618) The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus (c. 1618) The Union of Earth and Water (c. 1618) Tigress with Her Cubs (1618) Feast in the House of Simon the Pharisee (1618-20) St Mary Magdalene in Ecstacy (1619-20) Conversion of Saint Paul (1620s) The Fall of the Damned (ca. 1620) Landscape with Philemon and Baucis (ca. 1620) Saint George and the Dragon (c. 1620) Perseus Freeing Andromeda (1620) The Rape of Orithyia by Boreas (1620) Christ on the Cross (1620) The Three Graces (1620-1623) Isabella Brant (c. 1621) The Lion Hunt (1621) Marie de' Medici cycle (1621–1630) Portrait of Susanna Lunden (1622) Perseus and Andromeda (c. 1622) The History of Constantine (1622-1625) The Conversion of Saint Bavo (1623-1624) Diana and Her Nymphs Leaving for the Hunt (1623-1624) Adoration of the Magi (Antwerp) (1624) The Reconciliation of Esau and Jacob (1624) Christ Appointing Saint Roch as Patron Saint of Plague Victims (1623-1626) Portrait of Infante Isabella Clara Eugenia (1625) The Triumph of the Church (1635) Assumption of the Virgin Mary (1625-1626) Angelica and the Hermit (c. 1626-1628) The Annunciation (1627-1628) The Fall of Man (1628–1629) The Rape of Europa (1628-1629) Minerva Protecting Peace from Mars (1629-1630) The Ildefonso Altarpiece (1630-1631) Odysseus on the Island of the Phaecians (1630-1635) The Finding of Erichthonius (1632-1634) The Garden of Love (c. 1633) The Rape of the Sabine Women (1634-1636) The Feast of Venus (c. 1635) The Dance of the Villagers (1635) Helena Fourment with Her Son Frans (1635) The Village Fête (1635-1638) Hercules' Dog Discovers Purple Dye (c. 1636) Helena Fourment with Children (1636) Saturn (1636) The Rainbow Landscape (1636) Het Pelsken (1636-1638) The Origin of the Milky Way (c. 1637) Consequences of War (c. 1638) Hercules in the Garden of the Hesperides / Deianira Listens to Fame (1638) The Three Graces (1636-1638) The Rape of Ganymede (1636-1638) Diana and Callisto (1637-1638) Helena Fourment with a Carriage (1638) The Peasants Returning From The Fields (1640) Judgment of Paris (various)

Teachers	Tobias Verhaecht Adam van Noort Otto van Veen

Pupils and collaborators	Anthony van Dyck Frans Snyders Jan Brueghel the Elder Jacob Jordaens

Related	Isabella Brant (first wife) Helena Fourment (second wife) Palazzi di Genova (book by Rubens, 1622) Rubenshuis Elewijt Castle Plantin Press

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