The Rape of Europe

The Rape of Europa — Zeus transforming himself into a white bull to carry off the Phoenician princess Europa — was one of the canonical mythological subjects of Western painting, treated by Titian, Veronese, Rembrandt, and virtually every major European master. The subject combined erotic drama with landscape and animal painting, offering painters a full range of pictorial challenges. Quellinus II painted this canvas in 1635, an early career work completed not long after his presumed training under Rubens, whose own treatment of Ovidian subjects was well known. The Museo del Prado's collection includes this work among its holdings of Flemish mythology, reflecting Spanish royal taste for Northern interpretations of classical themes. The Prado also holds Titian's famous version, making Quellinus's painting participate in an implicit dialogue with the Venetian master's celebrated canvas.

The composition must balance the passive figure of Europa — richly dressed, alarmed or delighted — with the powerful form of the bull and the attendant figures of companions and putti who traditionally populate the scene. Quellinus at age 30-odd still shows the direct influence of Rubens in the dynamism of the animal and the warm, Venetian-inflected palette. The sea in the background provides spatial depth and reinforces the mythological narrative of abduction.