The Rape of Europa, Simon Vouet (Paris, 1590 – 1649) workshop/follower of

Simon Vouet (Paris, 1590 – 1649)
workshop/follower of

The Rape of Europa

Oil on canvas (116 x 92 cm. – In frame 145 x 118 cm.)

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A deception cleverly orchestrated by Zeus disguised as a spring idyll: this is the beating heart of the fascinating Abduction of Europa, taken from a painting by Simon Vouet (Paris, 1590 – 1649) created around 1640 and now exhibited in Madrid, at the renowned Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Imm.1 – https://www.museothyssen.org/en/collection/artists/vouet-simon/rape-europa ).

The scene, imbued with great sensuality and elegance, was conceived by Vouet during his stay in Paris, therefore at the height of his successful career, and was part of a cycle of works united by the graceful taste for various profane themes, intended for the decoration of the reception rooms of the most renowned royal and aristocratic residences in Paris.

The painting, which visually transposes a passage from Greek mythology (Ovid's Metamorphoses, II.836-875), depicts the frantic moment in which Zeus, infatuated with the beautiful Phoenician princess Europa, transforms himself into a tame white bull to approach her, gain her trust and then kidnap her.

Unlike other versions, dramatic or violent, Vouet's composition focuses on an idyllic atmosphere; the French painter does not depict a violent attack, but stages the moment before the drama begins, using a theatrical direction typical of the French Baroque: the beautiful girl is positioned on the back of the white bull and tries to maintain her balance by holding on to the animal's horn with her hand.

Two maids assist the princess, one of them, dressed in an antique pink dress, adorns the bull's head and Europa's arms with garlands of fresh flowers, with a gesture that conveys a state of serenity, almost evoking a wedding rite, unaware of the impending abduction.

In the upper part of the sky, two small winged cherubs float in the sky holding crowns of flowers, inserting a classic decorative and allegorical element typical of the seventeenth-century figurative tradition, accentuating the graceful and poetic tone of the painting.

The sensuality and sentimentality that characterize the work are inspired by the canvases of Veronese, in particular it is easy to compare it with the Rape of Europa in the Doge's Palace in Venice, and by the works of Bolognese artists active in Rome in the first half of the 17th century, such as Domenichino, Francesco Albani and above all Guido Reni, whom Vouet likely had the opportunity to see during his trip to Italy.

This composition became widely known at the time thanks to the print by Michel Dorigny, a talented engraver, pupil of Vouet, and court painter, made in 1642. Dorigny was tasked with reproducing and popularizing the master's masterpieces; it therefore played a fundamental role in the history of art, leading to the creation of several reproductions even at the time.

This matrix allowed the model to spread throughout Europe, and copies of this etching (which shows the scene mirrored or in reverse) are today preserved in prestigious Italian and international museums, such as the Capodimonte Museum in Naples (Imm.2 – https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/HistoricOrArtisticProperty/1500340406 ) and the Carrara Academy in Bergamo.

The great demand on the art market for Vouet's sensual mythological subjects pushed his own workshop, and several contemporary copyists, to produce painted replicas based precisely on the clear graphic trace provided by Dorigny.

Our beautiful version, undoubtedly derived from the engraving since it is presented as a "reverse" (i.e., mirror image), is a work presumably created by one of his assistants or shortly after his death. Simon Vouet ran a highly organized studio in Paris to handle the numerous commissions from the court and the nobility, and in our case, the drawing is faithfully reproduced, impeccably compared to the original in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The painting comes with a beautiful gilded frame and a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic sheet.

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