The Rape of Europa
1634
Medium
Etching on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 19.5 × 25.7 cm (7 11/16 × 10 1/8 in.); Plate: 19.9 × 26.4 cm (7 7/8 × 10 7/16 in.); Sheet: 22.4 × 27.1 cm (8 7/8 × 10 11/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
45459
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Claude Lorrain characteristically depicted sea harbors along shorelines and often used mythical figures to complete his classical landscapes. Derived from Ovid’s book Metamorphoses, The Rape of Europa illustrates Jupiter as a white bull, while the object of his desire, Europa, unsuspectingly rides on his back before being carried out to sea. Instead of portraying the typical scene of Europa’s abduction, Lorrain chose to depict her initial entrapment by Jupiter, in keeping with the artist’s arcad...
About the Artist
Claude Lorrain · 1604–1682
Claude Lorrain (c. 1600-1682), born Claude Gellée in the village of Chamagne in northeastern France's Duchy of Lorraine, stands as one of the most influential landscape painters in Western art history. Orphaned by age twelve, his journey to artistic mastery was unconventional—beginning with apprenticeships in pastry-making and inlay work before destiny led him to Rome around 1620, where he would s...