The Rape of Europa 1654

David Teniers the Younger created this oil painting, "The Rape of Europa," sometime in the 17th century. Teniers employs the traditional techniques of oil painting: layering translucent glazes to create luminosity, and building up form with careful brushwork. The material itself, oil paint, was by this time a well-established medium, associated with the grand tradition of European art. But here, Teniers uses it to depict a scene from classical mythology, updated to his own time. Look closely, and you’ll notice the faces of the figures, especially Europa, are rendered with considerable detail, while the bull, the landscape, and the heavens are far more loosely described. This directs our attention to the human drama of the scene. While oil paint might seem like a rarefied material, it was also a commodity, bought and sold in the bustling economy of 17th-century Europe. The skilled labor of artists like Teniers was part of that system, producing images for a discerning clientele. We must consider painting as a skilled trade, with social and economic implications.