Abduction of Ganymede 1650

Eustache Le Sueur created this oil on canvas painting of the Abduction of Ganymede, a mythological scene, during the Baroque period in France. In it, we see Ganymede, a beautiful Trojan youth, being carried off to Mount Olympus by Zeus in the form of an eagle. Le Sueur, working in the 17th century, was navigating a world of immense social stratification, religious reform, and emerging scientific rationalism. His depiction of Ganymede, a figure central to stories of male love and desire, exists within a context that both celebrates and suppresses non-normative sexuality. The dramatic composition—Ganymede’s vulnerability, his embrace of the powerful eagle—invites us to consider the themes of power, desire, and transformation. In this canvas, the artist invites us to reflect on how beauty, mythology, and identity intersect across time.