The Rape of Europa (Titian)

The Rape of Europa is a painting by the Italian artist Titian, painted ca. 1560–1562. It hangs in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Boston, Massachusetts. The oil-on-canvas painting measures 178 by 205 centimetres (70 in × 81 in).[1]

The Rape of Europa
ArtistTitian
Yearca. 1560–1562
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions178 cm × 205 cm (70 in × 81 in)
LocationIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Subject

The title of the painting refers to the mythological story of the abduction of Europa by Zeus (Jupiter to the Romans).[1] In the myth, the god assumed the form of a bull and enticed Europa to climb onto his back. Once there, the bull rode into the sea and carried her to Crete, where he revealed his real identity. Europa became the first Queen of Crete, and had three children with Zeus.

Although the source of Titian’s inspiration is thought to have been based on the scene from Book II in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a more direct influence might be a description of a painting of the rape of Europa found in Achilles Tatius’s novel, Leucippe and Clitophon. Achilles Tatius’s novel was translated into Italian and printed in 1546 in Venice, only a few years before Titian was thought to have painted The Rape of Europa.[2] Achilles Tatius’s description of the dolphins, Europa’s scarf, a Cupid, Europa’s covering, and "her position on the back of the bull—not with a leg on each side but with her feet on the bull’s right side and her left hand on his horn" is echoed in Titian’s portrayal of the same scene.[3]

Description

Titian is unequivocal about the fact that this is a scene of rape (abduction): Europa is sprawled helplessly on her back, her clothes in disarray.[4] The painting depicts Europa on the back of the bull, just off the shore of her homeland. Although the act of sexual violence is not depicted in the painting, it is implied through Europa's open-legged posture and her expression of fear as she is dragged off by Zeus.[5] Her danger is also implied by her waving a red silk scarf and by the sea monster in the foreground of the painting.[6] In other parts of the painting, two putti in the sky chase after Europa, and one rides on a dolphin in the sea.[7]

Yael Even has theorized that Titian could have created this painting not due to any particular attachment to the subject, but in order to assert his abilities as a painter.[8] Even further states that this artwork’s primary purpose was to show everyone that Titian had eclipsed his master, Bellini, and also to establish that painting was superior to sculpture.[8]

Provenance

The painting was one of the "poesie" painted by Titian for Philip II of Spain. With Diana and Callisto and Diana and Actaeon, both now shared by London and Edinburgh; it was one of three Titian poesies given by Philip V of Spain to the French ambassador, the Duke of Gramont, who in turn presented them to Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France from 1715–1723.[9] For most of the 18th century it was in the Orleans Collection in Paris. It was purchased by Bernard Berenson on behalf of art collector Isabella Stewart Gardner in 1896.[10]

Titian's poesie series for Philip II

Exhibitions

The painting was included in the 1857 Manchester Art Treasures exhibition.[11]

References
  1. "Europa". Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  2. Stone, Donald (1972). "The Source of Titian's Rape of Europa". The Art Bulletin. 54 (1): 47. doi:10.2307/3048932. ISSN 0004-3079.
  3. Stone, Donald (1972). "The Source of Titian's Rape of Europa". The Art Bulletin. 54 (1): 48. doi:10.2307/3048932. ISSN 0004-3079.
  4. Stephen J. Campbell, "Europa," in Eye of the Beholder, edited by Alan Chong et al. (Boston: ISGM and Beacon Press, 2003): 103–107.
  5. Eaton, A.W. (2003). "Where Ethics and Aesthetics Meet: Titian's Rape of Europa". Hypatia. 18: 161 – via JSTOR.
  6. "The Rape of Europa | Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum". www.gardnermuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-10-26.
  7. "The Rape of Europa | Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum". www.gardnermuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-10-26.
  8. Even, Yael (2001). "Commodifying Images of Sexual Violence in Sixteenth-Century Italian Art". Source: Notes in the History of Art. 20, No. 2: 16, 17, 18 – via JSTOR.
  9. Brigstocke, Hugh; Italian and Spanish Paintings in the National Gallery of Scotland, p. 183, 2nd Edn, 1993, National Galleries of Scotland, ISBN 0-903598-22-1
  10. Saltzman, Cynthia (2008). Old Masters, New World: America's Raid on Europe's Great Pictures, 1880-World War I. Viking. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-670-01831-4.
  11. Hamilton, James (2015). A Strange Business. New York, NY: Pegasus Books. p. 325. ISBN 978-1-60598-870-2.
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