What story does The Intervention of the Sabine Women depict?

In his 1799 painting The Intervention of the Sabine Women, Jacques-Louis David depicts a pivotal moment from the legend of Rome’s founding.1

The story takes place several years after the Romans abducted the Sabine women to populate their new city. In the painting, the women—now settled as wives and mothers—intervene to halt a battle between their Roman husbands and the Sabine men, who have arrived on an unwanted rescue mission.12

At the center of the melee, the Sabine woman Hersilia is shown appealing to both sides: she reaches with one arm toward the Roman leader Romulus and with the other toward the Sabine king Titus Tatius. Through this composition, David aimed to move toward a more graceful, Greek-inspired artistic style while also expressing a desire for national conciliation following years of political violence in France.1