Rape of Europa
1652-1705
Luca Giordano Italian, 1632-1705
Italy
Among the most famous Baroque artists from Naples, Luca Giordano was nicknamed Luca fa presto (Luca creates quickly), which can be appreciated in the spontaneity of his draftsmanship as well as that of his paintings. Reminiscent of the famous Venetian painting by Titian, the drawing tells the story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses in which the god Jupiter takes on the form of a white bull in order to lure Europa away.
Brush and brown oil paint, with black chalk, heightened with white oil paint, on cream laid paper, laid down on cream laid paper