The Rape of Europa

The Rape of Europa is seen as a controversial painting for the way it caters to the male gaze. We can tell that the painting caters to the male gaze by different factors; the woman’s face being covered hides her identity and objectifies her, her legs and genitalia seem to be the main focus and most importantly the way she is positioned on the bull that is kidnapping her. The way she is lying down on the bull symbolises the gendered views of the time and is indicating that women’s main social role was to give birth.

The painting was commissioned by Phillip II for his personal collection. The painting does have a woman in focus but the way she is represented is purely physical, not allowing us to look at her face. The way the bull looks at the audience directly as she is being kidnapped makes the audience a part of this crime. When you look into the abyss, the abyss looks back.

Reference: Roe, Cynthia. “Titian’s rape of Europa: the posture of the pose.” Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies 36, no. 1 (2005): 93-113