The Rape of Europa: The Intriguing History of Titian's Masterpiece

by Charles FitzRoy

Part art history and part detective story, The Rape of Europa is a thrilling account of one of the world’s most celebrated pieces of art.

The Rape of Europa is a completely novel popular history of art book centering on one of Titian’s most celebrated masterpieces. By telling the history of this painting from its origin to the present day, Charles FitzRoy includes fascinating accounts of King Philip II of Spain and how his art collecting reveals a dichotomy at its heart. The painting itself is an extremely erotic description of the famous classical myth based on the account in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. It was commissioned as a wedding present for Charles I and his French queen Henrietta Maria, and was later copied by Rubens and exerted a strong influence on Velázquez. In the eighteenth century the painting was given by the King of Spain to the Duke of Orleans, brother of Louis XV. Orleans was the greatest art collector of his day, using the brilliant connoisseur and dealer Pierre Crozat as his agent. At this stage the story becomes one of skullduggery.

The Rape of Europa painting is the most celebrated example of how rich Americans managed to purchase works of art from British collections and how Bernard Berenson made a huge fortune out of authenticating paintings for rich patrons, always purely for profit. This thrilling book is part art history and part detective story, and is an entirely original way of telling a story.

Genres: Art, History, Art History, Historical, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published February 26, 2015

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Other reviewers have highlighted the flaw with this book - although The Rape of Europa is a pivotal work in the History of Art and Politics, one which could appeal to an Art Historian's premise that the world is created by Art, it acts more as a pawn than an active player: it sees itself traded between reigning monarchs, used as a commodity for exchange, to pay off debts, and to fill ones woman's desire to own a piece of Venice. Therefore, this review will try to view this book from the perspective of a lover of the Arts.

By providing the necessary history of the difference between the Florentine and Venetian school of thoughts [Disegno and Colore, respectively], and Catholicism at the time of the paintings inception by Titian, FitzRoy situates our thinking in the perspective of its contemporaries: one of religious sexual repression, and artistic freedom brought by Humanism and the re-discovery of Ancient texts - notably Metamorphoses by Ovid, of which The Rape of Europa is derived from.



TBC - to include passages on the descriptions of the paintings.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book suffers from being labelled as a history of a painting. Once you understand it is actually about how world-wide power shifts through history Venice-Spain-France-Britain-USA it is actually a much better book and moves from a 3* to a 4*. The journey of the painting merely reflects the shift in power.

I would give it a 3.8- if there were such an option

[MaureenMcBooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concept of this book is fascinating:tracing Titian's famed painting "The Rape of Europa" from Venice to Madrid to Paris to London and finally to Boston, where it now holds court in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Fitzroy has done impressive research, sharing letters that describe the attitudes toward the painting as it makes its way from King Philip II of Spain to Gardner. He writes evocatively of the power of Titian's work and especially this painting. He points out that the painting's transitions coincide with the rise and fall of nations and depend heavily on the egos of the collectors. But the writing itself is disappointing. It's uneven and sloppy in quite a few places, giving it the sense that the book was being rushed or overlooked. I don't think I've ever seen so many typos, missing words and grammatical errors in a hardbound book.

[Richard Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author spends much space detailing the various locales Titian’s work has resided at over the centuries, including the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. How then can he all but ignore the 1990 theft at the Gardner Museum that saw thieves make off with $500 million in art – including works by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Degas and Manat, but not the Rape of Europa? It is the largest theft of private property in history, and FitzRoy gives it two brief mentions, and never once talks about whether the thieves took art near the Rape of Europa, what impact the theft had on security for the museum, the theft’s impact on visitors’ ability to Titian's work, etc. The book itself is uneven and could use a good editing, but to leave out this last bit leaves one with an incomplete history of Titian’s famous work.

[Esther · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned more about the history of Spain from this book than I was expecting, which is certainly not a bad thing. It all helps when you know the context surrounding the monarchs, laws, and other artists involved in this paintings history. Overall I thought this was incredibly well researched and organized. Like another reviewer said, it's definitely one you need to read in front of your computer or phone because you are going to be constantly googling all the other names and paintings the author is mentioning.

[Chris Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I certainly wouldn't call the history 'intriguing' - certainly it's passed through a few hands but that's something you'd expect from a 500 year old painting in what was - at the time - a politically volatile area.

The focus of the book is really the function of art as a commodity, and in this regard, 'The Rape of Europa' is no different from any other major work of art. Maybe a broader approach should have been taken.

[Mary Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is so much more than just one painting. It is a journey through war and conquest and barter. The Rape is just one of the paintings. It was not an easy go, at first, and then it began to spin. It is adamn good read.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

For an art history lover and fan of the Gardner museum, this is a great book. If you aren't into European history and Titian, you might find this really stultifying. I enjoyed it though.

[Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great history of an iconic painting

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the premise of this book seems interesting, the reality is that the story lurches from history lesson to history lesson, sometimes with little relation to the painting. Particularly the sections on Spain and France often felt more like general royal history books with occasional Titian references thrown in. Perhaps if this painting had a more interesting history (the owners are certainly history but the painting, not so much—it hung on the walls of important palaces. That’s it) then I might have enjoyed it more. As it is, it’s a painful 200 pages or so to get through.

[Dahlia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book too often wanders away from discussing the titular painting. While its tangents focus on the history of the owners of Titian's painting, the author does not always tie those histories back to the painting. It's more in the background. Furthermore, there is no full color print of the painting the book is about. Additional images of artworks and personages referenced would have been welcome. Overall, the book gives a quick history of five hundred years of Western power struggles. But it was lacking in depth, insight and even art history. Disappointing

[Neverdust · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting explanation of the history and politics surrounding the painting. Have your phone ready, because there's a lot of name dropping, for which I had to almost constantly look up who that person was or what exactly an art style looked like. The authors assumes the reader has a lot of knowledge or the willingness to look things up, which is why it took me so long to read through this.

Worth it. I would have given it more stars if it had been easier to read, with more explanation or maybe some footnotes.

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to this in advance of the author appearing at the Lincoln Book Festival; it's a fascinating story of how one of the greatest 'old masters' has travelled from superpower to superpower as each grew and faded in power and wealth. I did get a bit lost amongst some of the European royalty though...