The Rape of Europa

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 arcadian and poetic nature.