Europa (right), grieving after her rape by Jupiter, is consoled by Venus and Cupid (centre); Jupiter disguised as a bull looks on from the left background. Engraving by T. Cook and R. Pollard, 1797, after B. West, 1772.
- West, Benjamin, 1738-1820.
- Date:
- Jany: 30th; 1797
- Reference:
- 3154445i
- Pictures
About this work
Description
The depiction does not follow Ovid's account of Europa (Metamorphoses II.833-III.2), but Horace's in Odes III.27: Europa is not playing with her companions but adopts the pose of the melancholic. "As she grieves over her fate, Venus and Cupid come to cheer her, and Venus tells her that she is the wife of Jove, and will give her name to a continent" (von Erffa and Staley, loc. cit.). A border of short parallel lines surrounds the image
Publication/Creation
London (Braynes-Row, Spa-Fields) : Publish'd ... by R. Pollard printseller, Jany: 30th; 1797.
Physical description
1 print : line engraving, with etching ; image 39.5 x 52.2 cm
Lettering
Jupiter & Europa. Painted by B. West, historical painter to his Majesty. Engraved by T. Cook & R. Pollard
"The two engravings published after no. 142 [the painting of this subject] in 1797 and 1810 both bear misleading titles ... The title of the earlier print seems to be no more than a careless error, due perhaps to the fact that West painted no. 142 a quarter of a centuey before the print appeared"--von Erffa and Staley, loc. cit.
References note
Helmut von Erffa and Allen Staley, The paintings of Benjamin West, New Haven 1986, pp. 238-239, no. 142
Reference
Wellcome Collection 3154445i
Reproduction note
After a painting in the opposite direction in the William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Conn. (von Erffa and Staley, loc. cit.)
Type/Technique
Languages
Where to find it
- impression with author lettering and imprint croppped off
Location Status Access Closed stores