The Romans invited the neighboring Sabines with the intention of forcibly retaining their young women as wives. Romulus raised his cloak as the pre-arranged signal for the warriors to seize the women. The yellow armor worn by the man at the right is modeled after a Roman lorica, which was made of leather and reproduced the anatomy of the male torso. The painting belonged to the maréchal de Créquy, who was the French ambassador to Rome from June 1633 to July 1634.