Skip to main content

Link to Smithsonian homepage

Smithsonian Music

Main menu

  • Calendar
  • Listen
  • Learn
    • Ask Smithsonian
    • Collections Spotlights
    • Music Stories
  • Watch
  • Blog

Flight of Europa

Object Details

Luce Center Label
These sculptures illustrate the story of Zeus, king of the gods in classical mythology, and the princess Europa. Zeus fell in love with Europa while watching her gather flowers by the sea, and approached her in the form of a great white bull. She was frightened, but soon began to play with the creature, and once she had climbed on his back, Zeus swam across the sea to Crete. In Europa and the Bull, the girl is shown caressing the face of the bull, and in Flight of Europa, she rides on his back as they travel across the water. Manship made many replicas of these sculptures and often gave them to his friends as souvenirs.
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Artist
Paul Manship, born St. Paul, MN 1885-died New York City 1966
Date
1925
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist
Medium
gilded bronze on marble base
Dimensions
22 1/8 x 31 x 7 3/4 in. (56.2 x 78.8 x 19.8 cm)
Type
Sculpture
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
View manifest View in Mirador Viewer

Link to Smithsonian homepage

  • About
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
Back to Top