The Abduction of Europa: A Classic Example of Baroque Style

The Baroque movement was a pivotal time for art in the western world.  Following the period famously known as the Renaissance, the Baroque masters utilized many artistic tools popularized during the Renaissance such as the use of various blending techniques and perspective to create the illusion of a third dimension in their work.  However, the Catholic Reformation brought about cultural changes that are reflected in many ways by the way Baroque artists diverted from their predecessors.  Whereas Renaissance artists often depicted calm scenes indicative of the rationality so vaunted by the movement, the Baroque style is characterized by the dramatic use of light and dark values, bold hues, and extensive use of movement to create emotional action scenes.  The Abduction of Europa, painted by Rembrandt in 1632, is a classic example of these qualities.

  This is a self portrait of Rembrandt, who introduced the "d" to his name in 1633, after dropping his family name in 1632.

To the right is Rembrandt's The Abduction of Europa.

In The Abduction of Europa, Rembrandt paints the climatic scene from Ovid’s classical Roman myth about the god Zeus assuming the form of a white bull and enticing the young and beautiful maiden Europa to climb upon his back, whereupon he took her to the island of Crete.  Rembrandt makes excellent use of foreshortening and perspective, as well as chiaroscuro, to create a realistic window into this classic story.  Rembrandt captures the movement in the scene, using the shoreline and the cityscape in the background to create lines sloping upward and opposite the direction of Zeus and Europa.  The city in the background may represent Amsterdam, the city in which Rembrandt lived at the time of the paintings completion.  Europa herself is looking back helplessly at the women from whom she has just been taken.  Her friends on the shore, displaying various levels of distress, are clasping their hands, throwing up their arms in horror, and cringing next to the wagon.  This is clearly a very emotional moment.  Adding to this is the stark contrast in values in the scene.  One may question whether Rembrandt was sympathetic to Zeus’ side of the story, since the dark use of values lends an ominous quality to the woods.  Also, the bull and woman are riding towards the obvious light source, which is traditionally used to represent good or positive things.

Pictured above is The Abduction of Europa by Titian which Rembrandt modeled his painting after.

During his early years, Rembrandt painted many biblical and classic mythological scenes.  This was most likely a carryover from the popularization of such painting during the Renaissance, when a renewed interest in the cultural and intellectual advancements of the ancients spurred depictions of many of these legends.  It was also during this time that religious themes and morals were in favor.  For this reason we may surmise that Rembrandt might have been illustrating a warning to other would-be-tempted maidens; Europa is decidedly unhappy with her decision to ride the bull.  This seems to be in direct contrast to the aforementioned use of values to indicate a good destination.  Perhaps Rembrandt was making a social or religious statement.

Personally, I find the color values and dramatic variation of hues very engaging.  I empathize with Europa, fearful at being whisked away from the familiar by a force stronger than herself.  The lack of control is scary, but also exhilarating.  The cityscape in the background looks dreary and uninviting, as does the shoreline forest.  In contrast the bull is a perfect representation of power and light.

In conclusion, Rembrandt’s depiction of this classic Roman myth is not only a true example of the Baroque style, but also serves to give us insight into the cultural predilections following the Renaissance period and the Catholic Reformation.  This period, like so many others, was a necessary link in the chain that will result in the various styles, techniques, and formats that we may enjoy in the art world today.

Nicholas Copernicus is greatly known to introduce the heliocentric theory, stating that the Sun, not the Earth, was the center of the universe.  Going off of the Copernicus theory, Giordiano Bruno threw out the idea that the Sun is a star containing its own planets.  After being accused of heresay by the Roman Inquisition, Bruno was later burned at the stake.  Johannes Kepler later came out with his idea that the planets had an elliptical, not circular, orbit around the Sun.  With this knowledge, he was able to decipher the orbital period of the planets.  Galileo Galilei improved the first model of the telescope and pointed it up towards the sky for the first time, which led him to eventually discovering the moons of Jupiter.  Galileo was put under house arrest and was forced to write a retraction statement.  If it was not for astronomers such as these risking their lives and reputations to bring upon us their great knowledge, we would not have accomplished the milestones we can currently boast about. 

To the left is a picture of Bruno at his court appearance with the Roman Inquisition before he was found guilty.

To the right is the Copernican system that Copernicus envisioned showing the Sun was the center of the universe.










It wasn't until almost sixty years ago that the "Space Race" between the Soviet Union and the United States began.  The initial research done by astronomers in the 16th century was ignored for a couple hundred years before it became a major asset in our voyages into space.  Sputnit, Explorer 1, and the Mercury Program were the first objects that were put into space and would not have been possible had it not been for Isaac Newton's theories on gravitation.  Newton's Laws of Motion also allow us to solve for orbital insertion, speed, and altitude, to determine how fast and how high a shuttle must go to achieve orbit.  Newton invented calculus, which applies to nearly every facet of our lives, such as manufacturing, economics, statistics, space, etc.  Today, Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion are used everyday by space stations to search for exoplanets.  It was recently introduced that the Jupiter moons discovered by Galileo many years ago will be explored by NASA and the European space agencies by 2020, called the Europa Jupiter System Mission.

The video clip is the launch of the shuttle carrying the first man to walk on the moon.

Throughout the span of our history, the process of discovery has been fraught with disbelief, criticism, even danger.  The forward-thinkers of the renaissance did not escape this fate, but opened up a new era of scientific thought that would make our modern world possible.  Because of the courage and innovation of figures such as these, our society has become accepting of the necessity of the occasional paradigm shift.  The early masters of the physical sciences taught us that, despite conflicts with religious or societal conventions, the failure of our accepted models to match observation require us to revise said models.  This is the basis of scientific methodology and the primary force that drives the unprecedented progress that we enjoy today.