The Rape of Europa

Prints and Drawings

1634

Claude Lorrain
French, 1600-1682

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.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Prints and Drawings

Artist: Claude Lorrain
Title: The Rape of Europa
Place: France (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 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.)
Credit Line: Clarence Buckingham Collection
Reference Number: 1942.532
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/45459/manifest.json

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Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.