Europa was the daughter of Agenor, King of Tyre. Zeus fell in love with her & transformed himself into a docile bull in order to abduct her from the shore where she was playing. She climbed on his back & they swam away to Crete. She bore him three sons, Minos, Rhadamanthys & Sarpedon. The myth, with its dark erotic undertones, was one of the most popular classical subjects for 17th-century paintings, although the inclusion of Cupid makes this example rather unusual. Europa is shown at the moment when her disquiet at being abducted begins to turn to love. The painting was made for King Wladislaw of Pol&, shortly before 1640, & its luminous tonality, studied elegance & strong pale colouring are typical of Reni's late style. ...

Ganymede, a beautiful shepherd boy, was snatched from the hillside by Zeus in the form of an eagle & carried off to Mount Olympus. The painting's original shape was an irregular octagon. It was made as a ceiling painting for a distinguished lawyer in Maz ...

Amnon, a son of King David, desired his half-sister Tamar. Faking illness, he asked her to come & cook for him, & then raped her. He was later killed in revenge by Tamar's brother Absalom (2 Samuel 13). ...

Plutarch (' Lives' II, 14 & 19) relates that the Sabine tribe were invited to games in Rome; at a given signal from their king, Romulus, the Romans carried off the women. The background shows the later episode when the Sabines attacked the Romans & were defeated. The Romans & Sabines fight in the background beyond the rail that separates the audience from the games. The abduction is set before classical architecture, but the women wear 17th-century Flemish dress. ...

These four pictures are from a series illustrating stories from ancient Roman history. They show (top to bottom): ' The Attack on Cartagena'; ' The Continence of Scipio'; ' The Rape of the Sabines'; & ' The Intervention of the Sabine Women'. Two other pictur ...

The setting of this painting & ' The Rape of the Sabines (after the signal)' is the same. According to Plutarch's ' Lives', shortly after the founding of Rome neighbouring peoples were invited to equestrian games which were to provide the opportunity for carrying off brides for the Romans. The Sabine women, who have come to watch the games, are shown on either side of Romulus & his entourage. The pictures may come from a cassone. ...

Joseph was warned in a dream that King Herod was searching for the Christ Child & so took Mary & the infant to Egypt for safety. Their rest during the journey is a frequently depicted incident which is not actually described in the Bible. Joseph lies ...

Joseph had been warned in a dream that Herod was searching for the Christ Child, so he took him & the Virgin to safety in Egypt. (Matthew 2:13-15). Mola painted this subject several times. This painting is probably among the earliest of these treatments. A date in the early 1630s is likely. Stylistically the work shows the influence of Albani. ...

Christ steps triumphant out of the tomb while four soldiers sleep in the foreground. New Testament (Matthew 28: 2-4). He holds the banner of the Resurrection with a red cross on a white ground. This panel formed the last scene in the predella of the high altarpiece of S. Croce, Florence. ...

Christ rises from his tomb, while the Roman soldiers sleep. ' The Maries at the Sepulchre', ' The Resurrection' & ' Noli me Tangere' are all by an imitator of Mantegna, & all from the same series. Technical examination in 1982 showed these panels to have been painted no later than the first half of the 16th century. All three reflect Mantegna's style of about 1460 & it has been suggested that they either record lost paintings, or, perhaps more likely, lost drawings or engravings by Mantegna. ...