Nicolaes Berchem (1620–1683), Circle of - Europa y el toro - XL format

Nicolaes Berchem’s Environment (1620–1683)

Europe and the Bull / The Rape of Europe
Oil on canvas
135 × 102 cm
With frame: 146 × 113 cm

Important and monumental painting of the 17th-century Dutch school, closely related, both in conception and in certain stylistic and iconographic devices, to the pictorial universe of Nicolaes Pietersz. Berchem (Haarlem, 1620–Amsterdam, 1683), one of the great figures of the Italianate current within Dutch Golden Age painting.

The composition represents the mythological episode of Europe and the bull, drawn from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. According to the classical tale, Jupiter, in love with the Phoenician princess Europe, assumes the appearance of a magnificent white bull to approach her. Fascinated by the bull’s gentleness and beauty, Europe ends up trusting herself to him before being led to the sea and abducted by the god.

The painter here chooses one of the moments of greatest narrative richness in the episode. Europe appears majestically seated beside the white bull, whose powerful face occupies a large part of the foreground. The animal, adorned with a crown of flowers, ceases to function as a mere accessory and gains an extraordinary psychological and visual presence. Europe, richly dressed, looks outward from the composition while a second figure appears in the distance, integrating into a twilight landscape.

The monumentality of the figures, the chromatic richness of the garments, the strong contrast between the illuminated areas and the dimly lit landscape, and, especially, the extraordinary importance given to the animal place the work within a particularly significant tradition of 17th-century Dutch painting.

Relation to Nicolaes Berchem

The painting shows interesting affinities with the work of Nicolaes Berchem, one of the most prominent representatives of the so-called Dutch Italians. The National Gallery of Art defines him as one of the most popular and successful Italianate painters of his time and documents, within his extensive output, both pastoral scenes and biblical and mythological subjects.

Berchem developed a singular ability to integrate human figures, landscape, and animals within a single narrative. Precisely that triple condition—history painter, landscape painter, and extraordinary animal painter—becomes especially relevant when analyzing this work.

The most suggestive comparison is with the famous Rape of Europe by Nicolaes Berchem housed in the State Hermitage Museum. In that composition, as in this painting, the white bull receives exceptional protagonism. The Hermitage itself notes that that work simultaneously demonstrates Berchem’s abilities as a history painter, landscapist, and animal painter, highlighting especially the virtuoso rendering of the bull’s head.

This feature finds a clear parallel in the present work: the animal does not appear relegated to the landscape, but its head occupies the foreground and constitutes, together with Europe, one of the two visual focal points of the composition. The bull’s gaze directed at the viewer, the volumetric construction of the snout, the reflections on the white fur, and the floral ornamentation turn the animal into an individualized presence.

This capacity to confer monumentality and character to cattle appears repeatedly in Berchem. The London National Gallery highlights in A Man and a Youth ploughing with Oxen the robustness, musculature, and chromatic richness of the animals, while in other master’s works cows function as essential elements of the pictorial structure and not merely pastoral accessories.

The palette is also notable. The intense reddish and orange hues of Europe’s clothing contrast with the deep blue-green of the broad mantle that diagonally traverses the foreground. These chromatic accents emerge over a landscape built with greens, earth tones, and dark browns, a method perfectly compatible with the Dutch Italianate painting’s pursuit of chromatic contrasts.

The National Gallery of Ireland precisely notes Berchem’s specialization in combining figures and animals with attractive coloring within Italianizing landscapes and recalls that his skill in this field led other artists to rely on him to incorporate figures and animals into their own compositions.

Berchem and the Flemish tradition

There is also another particularly interesting aspect. Although Berchem is a fundamental figure in Dutch painting, his language did not remain isolated from Flemish tradition.

Studies on his Rape of Europe at the Hermitage have expressly pointed out the affinities of that painting with Jacob Jordaens, a circumstance particularly relevant in a composition like the present one.

The physical robustness of Europe, her abundant hair, the broad and heavy folds of the fabrics, the intense chromaticity, and the markedly sensual character of the scene recall that northern Baroque current in which the Dutch tradition dialogues with Flemish models.

At the same time, the landscape responds to that Italy fascination that characterizes Berchem and other Dutch painters of his generation. There is even some historiographical debate today about whether Berchem actually traveled to Italy: while some sources have argued for a possible trip, more recent research suggests he may have built his Italian imaginary from artists such as Pieter van Laer, Jan Both, and Jan Asselijn. The Rijksmuseum explicitly states that there is no documentation of an Italian journey and that these masters likely provided his main models.

A monumental composition

It should also be noted the exceptional format of the work: 135.26 × 102.24 cm, considerably large dimensions for a painting of this nature.

Its scale allows the figures to attain almost natural presence. Europe and the bull physically dominate the pictorial space, while the landscape and the secondary figure provide depth to the scene. The result closely resembles a true history painting rather than a small cabinet scene.

The composition is carefully articulated through diagonals: the broad blue mantle leads to Europe; Europe’s body then guides to the bull’s head, and the gesture of the hand establishes the physical link between the two protagonists. The secondary figure in the background balances the visual weight of the large animal on the right.

Particularly notable is the treatment of different materials: the shine of the fabrics, the flesh tones, Europe’s abundant hair, the white fur of the bull, the flowers and vegetation. All of this demonstrates an ambitious execution and an evident familiarity with the resources of great Baroque painting in Northern Europe.

Cataloging

For its formal, iconographic, and technical characteristics, the work can be situated within the Dutch school of the 17th century, showing a close stylistic relationship with Nicolaes Berchem and, in particular, with that aspect of his output in which the master tackled mythological subjects through the combination of monumental figures, animals, and landscape.

The comparison with the Rape of Europe housed in the Hermitage is particularly pertinent both for the iconographic coincidence and for the extraordinary prominence given to the white bull. Berchem was also a hugely influential artist: he had numerous pupils and followers, and his compositions were widely copied and disseminated through engravings during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The specific attribution, however, should remain open to future research, especially through direct study of the painting surface, support, preparation, possible old interventions, and provenance. The quality and characteristics of the painting justify, in any case, its study within the context of Nicolaes Berchem and Dutch mythological painting of the 17th century.

Conservation status: the work shows signs of aging and restorations/interventions compatible with its material history, as seen in the photographs. It is recommended to carefully consult the images, which are part of the description.

Framing: the painting is currently presented with a frame, bringing total dimensions to 146 × 113 cm. Due to the exceptional size of the work and for safety reasons during transport, the shipment will be made without a frame. The frame is available to the buyer and can be collected in person or arranged for collection completely free of charge by the seller.