The queue outside the Galleria Dell’Accademia di Firenze. Image from here (accessed 6/15/2026).
Finding Giants in the Accademia
Most folks queue up in the lane outside the Galleria Dell’Accademia di Firenze (Accademia Gallery of Florence) in order to see Michelangelo’s David. The hype is real. David is a masterpiece in so many ways. I just didn’t realize until I stood beneath this looming 17-foot figure how truly goliath David was!
But that giant deserves its own space. I’ll sneak up on him another day.
The Hall of the Colossus
For the moment, I redirect our Accademia visitors to the neighboring Hall of the Colossus. While 15th and 16th-century Florentine paintings line the walls, the showstopper commands the center of the room.
Here stands a giant 13-foot work of three intertwined figures. It is active. It is balanced. It is Giambologna’s terracotta model for The Abduction of a Sabine Woman.
It is active. It is balanced. It is Giambologna’s The Abduction of the Sabine Women (1582).
The Three figures of the human spiral
Meant to be viewed from 360 degrees, this work of art forces you to move. I join the circle of spectators watching this tragic story unfold.
At the summit is a lovely maid. She is caught. Her face creases. She twists at the waist. She flails. Her arm seek the sky.
Binding her to earth is a muscular youth. With one arm he pulls her shoulder. With the other, he clenches her hip. She is firmly in his grip. He ripples. He is Roman.
The youth straddles a third figure. This one is bearded, bent, older. One hand is behind him, useless. The other is outstretched. Is he hiding his face? She looks down. Will there eyes meet in sorrow?
Masterpiece of Mud
The barrier keeps me from getting too close. But it is clear that the material used to create this trio is not marble. It is terracotta. Clay. Mud. It is a “sculpted sketch,” the kind of model that artists create to test concepts before chipping stone. Giambologna regularly practiced in clay, wood, or wax, altering a pose, adjusting an angle. These were rotated and manipulated until he was satisfied.
That a fragile (and unfired) clay sculpture would survive almost half a millennium makes The Abduction even more special. Giambologna himself would be surprised.
Portrait of Giambologna by Hendrick Goltzius. Image from here (accessed 6/16/2026).
The Man behind the Art
Of course, Giambologna is a nickname. It is a compression of Geovanni da Bologna, an Italianized make-over of his birth-name: Jean de Boulogne. Jean was born in Flanders, but like others with rare talent, found himself working for the Medici family in 16th century Florence.
His personal story is fascinating, but the dark myth behind The Abduction of a Sabine Woman is even more gripping. And it has a biblical parallel.
Stay tuned for part two of this post.
We plan to be back in Florence next year as part of our “Taste of Italy” tour scheduled for May 13-22, 2027. To learn more about this and other travel opportunities in the lands of the Bible, follow the link here.
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