Titian’s Rape of Europa : The Posture of The Pose

Abstract

Between 1552–1562, Titian painted the poesie , a series of eroticized mythologies commissioned by Philip II of Spain. Titian’s depiction of the Rape of Europa (1559–1562), drawn from Ovid’s Metamorphoses , was a radical departure from classical, medieval, and Renaissance interpretations of the myth. Europa’s awkward and highly sexualized pose on the back of the bull-god deviated wildly from pictorial conventions and was an iconographic anomaly within the visual tradition. This essay examines Europa’s suggestive posture within the context of sixteenth-century social politics and the issues surrounding proper female deportment. It argues that Europa was the antithesis of the feminine ideal and challenged the cultural constraints of female sexuality and definitions of feminine beauty in the Renaissance. Ultimately, the author asserts that Titian wantonly mocked theoretical conventions of decorum for the sake of erotic expression and for the private pleasure of Europa’s intended male viewer, Philip II of Spain.

Images d'une pulsion. Les représentations d'enlèvement à travers les arts

“…La position de la jeune femme allongée sur le dos, jambes ouvertes, est assez éloignée de la tradition iconographique du thème et ne correspond pas à l'attitude exigée d'une jeune fille à la Renaissance. Titien abandonne l'idéal de féminité de son époque, c'est-à-dire de contrainte de comportement, privilégiant l'exposition d'un corps de femme dans un total abandon 13 . L'expression de la brutalité de l'homme est, selon Georges Bataille, l'essence même de l'érotisme : « Le domaine de l'érotisme est le domaine de la violence, le domaine de la violation 14 .…”