Ovid’s 'Metamorphoses' (II, 835–875) tells of the rape of Europa, daughter of Agenor, King of Tyre, who was abducted by Jupiter in the form of a white bull (see also Boucher P484). The present picture is a reduced copy of an original by Titian (Boston, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum), painted in 1562 as a pendant to Perseus and Andromeda (Titian P11) for the series of six poesie commissioned by Philip II of Spain. The 4th Marquess of Hertford’s agent, Samuel Mawson, described it as such when it appeared for sale in 1857, claiming that ‘it is much finer than the finished picture’. Lord Hertford acquiesced in its purchase, writing that ‘the Titian is only a study but I dare say very desirable’.