The Rape of Europa (Titian)

The Rape of Europa
Artist Titian
Year ca. 1560-62
Type Oil on canvas
Dimensions 178 cm × 205 cm (70 in × 81 in)
Location Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

The Rape of Europa is a painting by the Italian artist Titian, painted ca. 1560-62. 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]

Description

As the title implies, the painting depicts the rape of Europa.[1]

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 Duc de Gramont, who in turn presented them to Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France from 1715-23.[2] 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.[3]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Europa". Isabells Stewart Gardner Museum. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  2. Brigstocke, Hugh; Italian and Spanish Paintings in the National Gallery of Scotland, p. 183, 2nd Edn, 1993, National Galleries of Scotland, ISBN0903598221
  3. 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.