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02-06-2026
Peter Paul Rubens

Siegen, Westphalia (Germany), 1577 - Antwerp (Belgium), 1640

Peter Paul Rubens See author's file

The Rape of Europe

1636 - 1637. Oil on panel.
Room 079

Europe turns a last glance at her companions, who are located outside the composition, as Jupiter carries her away. The god was profoundly enamored of her and transformed into a bull in order to approach her. This story from Ovid´s Metamorphoses is depicted by Rubens in a very succinct manner in this preparatory sketch for a painting Erasmus Quellinus made for the Torre de la Parada.

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Inventory number
P002457
Author
Peter Paul Rubens
Title
The Rape of Europe
Date
1636 - 1637
Technique
Oil
Support
Panel
Dimension
Height: 18.9 cm; Width: 13.7 cm
Series
Torre de la Parada
Provenance
Manuel Álvarez de Toledo y Lesparre, 12th Duke of Pastrana, 1886; bequest of María Dionisia Vives y Zires, Duchess of Pastrana, 1889
Entry date
1889

Bibliography +

Rooses, Max, Rubens. S. VIe et Ses Oeuvres, Flammarion, Paris, 1903, pp. 596-599.

Alpers, Svetlana, The Decoration of The Torre de la Parada, Corpus rubenianum Ludwig Burchard T IX, Amberes, 1971, pp. 207.

Díaz Padrón, Matías, Museo del Prado. Catálogo de pinturas. Escuela flamenca, Museo del Prado; Patronato Nacional de Museos, Madrid, 1975, pp. 304-305.

Held, Julius S., The oil sketches of Peter Paul Rubens : a critical catalogue..., The National Gallery of Art, Princeton, 1980, pp. 273.

Díaz Padrón, Matías, El siglo de Rubens en el Museo del Prado: catálogo razonado, Prensa Ibérica, Barcelona, 1995, pp. 1040.

Vergara, Alejandro, The Presence of Rubens in Spain, I-II, A Bell & Howell Company, Ann Arbor, 1999, pp. 548.

Posada Kubissa, Teresa, Rubens en la colección Pastrana-Infantado, Boletín del Museo del Prado, XXI, 2003, pp. 24-40.

García Gual, C., 'Relato mítico y momento pictórico. Rubens y Ovidio'. En Historias inmortales, Barcelona, 2003, pp. 281-298.

Classical mythology in the Netherlands in the age of Renaiss..., Peeters, Amberes, 2009.

Mena Marqués, M. (ed.), La belleza encerrada: de Fra Angelico a Fortuny, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2013, pp. 202.

Georgievska-Shine, Aneta Silver, Larry, Rubens, Velázquez, and the King of Spain, Ashgate, Surrey, 2014, pp. 56,145 Lám.11 fg.3.6.

Silver, L, 'Ruben's Myths for the Rey Planeta at the Torre de la Parada' En: The Age of Rubens: diplomacy, dynastic politics and the visual arts in Early Seventeenth century., Brepols,, 2016, pp. 235-254 [239].

Vergara, Alejandro, 'P.P.Rubens. Serie de la Torre de la Parada', En: Rubens pintor de bocetos, Museo Nacional del Prado,, Madrid, 2018, pp. 208-222 n.70.

Other inventories +

Inv. Nuevas Adquisiciones (iniciado en 1856). Núm. 896.
Autor P.P.Rubens / 896. Un cuadro titulado 'el rapto de Europa' / Alto 0,15 ancho 0,14

Inscriptions +

T 89[6]
Inscribed in blue. Front, lower right corner

Colección/Pastrana
Handwritten label in black ink. Back, Upper central area

A-[tapada por etiqueta]
Inscribed. Back, Upper right area

Exhibitions +

Rubens and the Flemish Baroque Artists. Collections of the Museo del Prado
Barcelona
29.05.2025 - 21.09.2025

Rubens y los artistas del Barroco flamenco. Colecciones del Museo del Prado
Barcelona
27.05.2025 - 21.09.2025

Rubens a Palazzo Te. Pittura, trasformazione e libertá (Nascitá)
Mantua
07.10.2023 - 28.01.2024

Rubens. Painter of Sketches
Madrid
10.04.2018 - 05.08.2018

Meta-painting. A Journey to the Idea of Art
15.11.2016 - 19.02.2017

Captive Beauty. Fra Angelico to Fortuny
Madrid
21.05.2013 - 10.11.2013

Rubens
Madrid
05.11.2010 - 23.01.2011

Il mito D'Europa
Florencia
10.06.2002 - 15.09.2002

El toro y el Mediterráneo
Madrid
16.03.2001 - 31.05.2001

El toro y el Mediterráneo
Barcelona
16.02.2001 - 15.04.2001

El toro y el Mediterráneo
Palma de Mallorca
01.12.2000 - 15.02.2001

Velázquez, Rubens, Claudio de Lorena y la pintura en la corte de Felipe IV
Bonn
07.10.1999 - 23.01.2000

Location +

Room 079 (On Display)

Expuesto
Update date: 02-06-2026 | Registry created on 28-04-2015

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