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This painting depicts the mythological story of Europa, daughter of the King of Tyre, who, while playing on the seashore one day, was approached by a docile bull. Draping a flower garland on its horns, Europa unsuspectingly climbed onto its back. The bull, who was in fact the god Jupiter in disguise, carried her off to Crete. We see the moment of her abduction, just before her alarm turns to love.Guido Reni's biographer, Carlo Cesare Malvasia, cites three versions of the Rape of Europa painted by Reni for great personages; this work has been identified as the one delivered to King Wladislaw of Poland shortly before 1640. Its luminous tonality and cool, pale colouring are in keeping with the artist's late style, supporting the theory that it was made around 1640.