The Abduction of Europa | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Artist | Rembrandt |
Year | 1632 |
Catalogue | 95.PB.7 |
Medium | Oil on single oak panel |
Location | J. Paul Getty Museum, California |
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn's The Abduction of Europa (1632) is one of his rare mythological subject paintings. The work is oil on a single oak panel and now located in the J. Paul Getty Museum. [1] The inspiration for the painting is Ovid's Metamorphoses , part of which tells the tale of Zeus's seduction and capture of Europa. The painting shows a coastal scene with Europa being carried away in rough waters by a bull while her friends remain on shore with expressions of horror. Rembrandt combined his knowledge of classical literature with the interests of the patron in order to create this allegorical work. The use of an ancient myth to impart a contemporary thought and his portrayal of the scene using the High Baroque style are two strong aspects of the work.
The Abduction of Europa is Rembrandt's reinterpretation of the story, placed in a more contemporary setting. Rembrandt developed an interest in the classical world early in his life while in Amsterdam [2] which was a growing business-oriented center, and where he found work with great success. During this time, the international High Baroque style was popular. Rembrandt did not complete many mythological subject paintings. Out of three hundred sixty completed works, five displayed tales from the Metamorphoses, five depicted goddesses, a Carthaginian queen, all of which only five represented myth subjects. [3] Rembrandt occasionally used these mythological paintings as allegory, applying the tale to some Christian theme or a moral tradition. [4]
Jacques Specx, of the Dutch East India Company, commissioned Rembrandt to complete The Abduction of Europa. [5] Specx had established a trading center in Japan in 1609, served as the governor of Batavia (former name of Jakarta, the Indonesian capital), and later returned to Holland in 1633. [6] The painting was in Specx's collection, along with five portraits, also by Rembrandt.
The subject and its allegorical meaning are described by the Flemish art theorist, Karel van Mander, in Het schilder-boeck (1618). Rembrandt The book was produced in Amsterdam and included details about many Netherlands painters. Rembrandt surely would have familiarized himself with van Mander's theories and interpretations of Ovid's myths. [7]
Van Mander commented on Europa's abduction, with a European spin to it.
Ovid's account of the abduction of Europa is found in Book II 833-75 of Metamorphoses. [8] Europa is a princess of Tyre, who is playing with her court on the coast when a beautiful bull appears. Europa mounts the bull, which quickly whisks her away into the ocean. When Europa and her friends notice the bull retreating further into the sea without coming back, the bull transforms into Zeus and carries her to Mount Olympus on the island of Crete. [9] Rembrandt's painting is set just as Europa is whisked away, as seen by the bull and young lady in the ocean in the painting.
Art historians, like Mariët Westermann and Gary Schwartz interpret the painting as a reference to Specx' career. The painting includes details from Ovid's story that strengthen the location of the tale as well as tie it to Specx' life. The African driver and non-European coach in the shadows to the right allude to the exotic Phoenician coast. There is a port in the background, a reference to the busy port of the Tyre. [10] Karel van Mander looked for an applicable meaning to the work that constructed a moral concept to the classical literature. He quoted an unnamed ancient source that stated that the abducted princess was representative of "the human soul, borne by the body through the troubled sea of this world". [11] Van Mander theorized that the bull, which is Zeus in the classical tale, is really the name of a ship that bore Europa from her eastern home of Tyre to the western continent that adopts her name. [12]
The literary comments of van Mander are essential to deconstructing the allegorical subject of Europa. In the story, Zeus whisks Europa away to Crete. In van Mander's interpretation, she is moved by ship to Crete. Just as Specx's career was to move treasures of Asia to Europe by ship, so too is Europa moved from her Eastern home to Europe. [13] Rembrandt's familiarity with the literary and classical nature of the story is evident by the bull as both god and ship, and the harbor installation in the background. The harbor is representative of the busy trading ports in both Tyre and Europe. [14] The portrayal of Tyre, though, seems fairly modern with the inclusion of a crane, a tool which did not exist in the first century when Ovid was alive. This detail strengthens the parallel between Tyre and the Dutch ports, as Rembrandt attempts to connect the story to Specx's livelihood. The relationship also alludes to Europa's impending new destination, where she will give Europe her name. [15] Most scholars agree that this narrative was chosen specifically by Rembrandt to reinterpret and mirror Specx's career.
Artistically, The Abduction of Europa reflects the attitudes and interests of Rembrandt and other Dutch painters during the early to mid seventeenth century. The work embodies the international High Baroque with dramatic lighting coming from the left and the high drama in the moment of abduction. This style was popular in Leiden, his birth town. The High Baroque was also present in the Ruben's work that Rembrandt studied. [16] The idyllic shore and the detailed reflections in the water show the growing interest in naturalism in art. [17] Naturalism plays a strong part in other aspects of the piece. Rembrandt contrasts the dark trees against the light blues and pinks skies. Rembrandt also uses light to further dramatize the piece, as seen by the glittering of gold on the dresses and carriages. [18] The depiction of Europa on the bull combines these details: there is a clear reflection of the figures in the water, her dress has golden threads, and even her jewelry reflects some light. There was also a growing interest in historical landscape painting in Southern Netherlands. Artistic interests like genre, landscape, and myth painting, all combine in this one work.
Rembrandt was not the first artist to represent the abduction of Europa by Zeus. The Italian artist, Titian, created a similar work nearly seventy years before. Many art historians agree that Titian was a huge influence on Rembrandt, including Westermann who connects the two artists in their comparison works of Danaë. [19] Rembrandt is often called the "Titian of the north", and many of his portrait pieces show the influence of the Titian style and technique. [20] Though Rembrandt never traveled to Italy, Venetian paintings that traveling to Amsterdam increased as it grew as an art center. Amy Golahny, in a dissertation, justifies this thought. She writes, "When the Secretary to the Staudthouder asked the two young painters [Rembrandt and Jan Lievens] why they did not undertake the journey to Italy to study the great monuments there, and especially the works of Raphael and Michelangelo, they replied that there was an abundance of Italian art already to be viewed in Holland." [21] The presence of Italian art must have been strong, for Rembrandt kept a portrait of Titians' Money-changers in his studio. [22] A sure connection and influence, then, would be Titian's representation of the same Ovidian story.
While the influences of Titian's Europa (1560–62) are recognizable, Rembrandt's work is unique. Both pieces reflects the heightened drama of the piece, but Titian's work is more violent in nature. [23] Philip II of Spain commissioned the piece, and Titian uses the psychological depiction of Europa's horror and nudity to reflect the sexual violence of the moment. [24] Rembrandt's work is less serious a depiction of the violence, but still keeps the climactic moment alive. Titian keeps the figures in ancient dress, himations and chitons, keeping strong the mythological nature of the work. Rembrandt places his figures in contemporary Dutch dress, making the story more relatable to his viewer. Rembrandt's work is set in a realistic setting, removing the cherubs from the work, instead placing the story in a highly familiar nature setting for his Dutch audience, Specx. Rembrandt makes these changes not only to set himself apart from Titian, but also to gear the work specifically in mind to the commissioner of the work.
Rembrandt's The Abduction of Europa displays much about the artistic influences of his time. His work in mindful of the patron, painted in the popular High Baroque style, and incorporates the influences of earlier artists like Titian. This piece is only one of the mythological subject he completed, but Rembrandt's others display many of the same influences as this.
In Greek mythology, Europa was a Phoenician princess from Tyre, Lebanon and the mother of King Minos of Crete. The continent of Europe is named after her. The story of her abduction by Zeus in the form of a bull was a Cretan story; as classicist Károly Kerényi points out, "most of the love-stories concerning Zeus originated from more ancient tales describing his marriages with goddesses. This can especially be said of the story of Europa."
Jan Lievens was a Dutch Golden Age painter who was associated with his close contemporary Rembrandt, a year older, in the early parts of their careers. They shared a birthplace in Leiden, training with Pieter Lastman in Amsterdam, where they shared a studio for about five years until 1631. Like Rembrandt he painted both portraits and history paintings, but unlike him Lievens' career took him away from Amsterdam to London, Antwerp, The Hague and Berlin.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of art. It is estimated Rembrandt produced a total of about three hundred paintings, three hundred etchings, and two thousand drawings.
Bacchus and Ariadne (1522–1523) is an oil painting by Titian. It is one of a cycle of paintings on mythological subjects produced for Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, for the Camerino d'Alabastro – a private room in his palazzo in Ferrara decorated with paintings based on classical texts. An advance payment was given to Raphael, who originally held the commission for the subject of a Triumph of Bacchus.
Joachim Anthoniszoon Wtewael was a Dutch Mannerist painter and draughtsman, as well as a highly successful flax merchant, and town councillor of Utrecht. Wtewael was one of the leading Dutch exponents of Northern Mannerism, and his distinctive and attractive style remained largely untouched by the naturalistic developments happening around him, "characterized by masterfully drawn, highly polished figures often set in capricious poses". Wtewael was trained in the style of late 16th-century Haarlem Mannerism and remained essentially faithful to it, despite painting well into the early period of Dutch Golden Age painting.
The Rape of Persephone, or Abduction of Persephone, is a classical mythological subject in Western art, depicting the abduction of Persephone by Hades. In this context, the word Rape refers to the traditional translation of the Latin raptus which refers to bride kidnapping rather than the potential ensuing sexual violence.
Jacques Specx was a Dutch merchant, who founded the trade on Japan and Korea in 1609. Jacques Specx received the support of William Adams to obtain extensive trading rights from Tokugawa Ieyasu, the shōgun emeritus, on 24 August 1609, which allowed him to establish a trading factory in Hirado on 20 September 1609. He was the interim governor in Batavia between 1629 and 1632. There his daughter Saartje Specx was involved in a scandal. Back home in Holland Specx became an art-collector.
Andromeda Chained to the Rocks (1630) is a 34 cm × 24.5 cm oil-on-panel painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Rembrandt. It is now in the Mauritshuis, The Hague, Netherlands. Andromeda represents Rembrandt's first full length mythological female nude history painting and is taken from a story in Ovid's Metamorphoses.
The Venetian painter Titian and his workshop made at least six versions of the same composition showing Danaë, painted between about 1544 and the 1560s. The scene is based on the mythological princess Danaë, as – very briefly – recounted by the Roman poet Ovid, and at greater length by Boccaccio. She was isolated in a bronze tower following a prophecy that her firstborn would eventually kill her father. Although aware of the consequences, Danaë was seduced and became pregnant by Zeus, who, inflamed by lust, descended from Mount Olympus to seduce her in the form of a shower of gold.
Frans Badens was a Flemish-born painter who was active in Amsterdam where he was known for his mythological and biblical scenes, genre scenes, portraits and still lifes. In his lifetime he was regarded as one of the most important painters who had moved to Amsterdam and was admired for his realistic treatment of the skin.
Het Schilder-Boeck or Schilderboek is a book written by the Flemish writer and painter Karel van Mander first published in 1604 in Haarlem in the Dutch Republic, where van Mander resided. The book is written in 17th-century Dutch and its title is commonly translated into English as 'The Book of Painters' or 'The Book of Painting' and sometimes as 'The Book on Picturing'. Het Schilder-Boeck consists of six parts and is considered one of the principal sources on the history of art and art theory in the 15th and 16th century Low Countries. The book was very well received and sold well. Karel van Mander died two years after its publication. A second posthumous edition, which included a brief, anonymous biography of van Mander was published in 1618. This second edition was translated by Hessel Miedema into English and published in 1994-1997 together with a facsimile of the original and five volumes of notes on the text.
Metamorphoses (Transformations) is a Latin narrative poem by the Roman poet Ovid, considered his magnum opus. Comprising fifteen books and over 250 myths, the poem chronicles the history of the world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar within a loose mythico-historical framework. Although meeting the criteria for an epic, the poem defies simple genre classification by its use of varying themes and tones.
The Feast of the Gods or Banquet of the Gods as a subject in art showing a group of deities at table has a long history going back into antiquity. Showing Greco-Roman deities, it enjoyed a revival in popularity in the Italian Renaissance, and then in the Low Countries during the 16th century, when it was popular with Northern Mannerist painters, at least partly as an opportunity to show copious amounts of nudity.
Mercury and Argus is an oil painting on canvas executed ca. 1620 by the Flemish painter Jacob Jordaens. It is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon. It is the first of many versions that Jordaens painted of Ovid's rendering of the mythological story of the murder by Mercury of the giant Argus. Some of the other versions depict other scenes of the story.
The Rape of Europa is a painting by the Venetian artist Titian, painted ca. 1560–1562. It is in the permanent collection of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Boston, Massachusetts. The oil-on-canvas painting measures 178 by 205 centimetres.
The Rape of Ganymede is an oil painting of 1635 by the Dutch Golden Age painter Rembrandt, depicting the myth of Ganymede. It is in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden.
Perseus and Andromeda is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Titian, now in the Wallace Collection in London. It was painted in 1554–1556 as part of a series of mythological paintings called "poesie" ("poetry") intended for King Philip II of Spain. The paintings took subjects from the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses, in this case Book IV, lines 663–752, and all featured female nudes.
The Pardo Venus is a painting by the Venetian artist Titian, completed in 1551 and now in the Louvre Museum. It is also known as Jupiter and Antiope, since it seems to show the story of Jupiter and Antiope from Book VI of the Metamorphoses. It is Titian's largest mythological painting, and was the first major mythological painting produced by the artist for Philip II of Spain. It was long kept in the Royal Palace of El Pardo near Madrid, hence its usual name; whether Venus is actually represented is uncertain. It later belonged to the English and French royal collections.
In 1635, Peter Paul Rubens created Venus and Adonis, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. He followed the mythological story in the Metamorphoses by Ovid, inspired from his love of classical literature and earlier depictions of this scene. This oil on canvas painting shows Venus accompanied by Cupid, embracing and pulling Adonis before he goes off to hunt. The artist uses specific colors, detail and strong contrast between light and dark to depict a dramatic and emotional scene. At the time Rubens created the painting, the mythological story of Venus and Adonis was popular in Renaissance and Baroque court art. Rubens was clearly inspired by the many existing depictions of this scene, in particular the famous Titian composition of the same name, of which there are numerous versions. This depicts the same moment of Adonis leaving Venus to hunt, despite her pleas to stay. He is killed later in the day.