The stories behind the paintings

What happens when a god does not announce himself? In Rembrandt’s The Abduction of Europa (1632), Jupiter has already chosen the disguise: a white bull, knee-deep in the sea, with a princess on his back. Europa grips a horn and twists to look at the shore she is leaving. Her companions are still on the beach. The carriage is still there. The painting stops on the second when the joke becomes a crossing, and a myth becomes a picture about looking back . Quick facts Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669) Title: The Abduction of Europa Date: 1632 (signed on a stone at center right, RHL van Rijn 1632 ) Medium: Oil on oak panel Dimensions: 64.6 × 78.7 cm (25 7/16 × 31 in.) Collection: J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (95.PB.7) Subject: Jupiter, disguised as a bull, carrying Europa across the sea, from Ovid’s Metamorphoses Status: Public-domain artwork Rembrandt van Rijn, The Abduction of Europa , 1632. Oil on oak panel. J. Paul Getty Museum, 95.PB.7....

What happens when beauty asks you to come closer, and the water is already doing the asking? In Henrietta Rae’s Hylas and the Water Nymphs (1909), the answer is a pool under trees, not a struggle. Hylas kneels on the bank in a blue tunic, one hand lifted, while the naiads rise out of the lilies and reach for him. No one is dragging him yet. The picture stops on the moment before he disappears. Henrietta Rae, Hylas and the Water Nymphs , 1909. Oil on canvas. Public-domain artwork by Henrietta Rae. Fine-art print available from the Sapiens Verbum print shop. 🖼️ Get this painting as a print → License Artwork Quick facts Artist: Henrietta Rae (1859–1928) Title: Hylas and the Water Nymphs Date: 1909 Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 142.3 × 222.8 cm (56 × 87¾ in.) Exhibition: Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London, 1910, no. 447 Subject: Hylas, companion of Heracles, at the spring where the naiads take him Status: Public-domain...