The Rape of Europa is a completely novel kind of popular history of art book which centres on one of Titian's most celebrated masterpieces. By telling the history of this painting from its origin to the present day, Charles FitzRoy includes fascinating accounts King Philip II of Spain and how his art collecting reveals a dichotomy at its heart. The painting itself is an extremely erotic description of the famous classical myth based on the account in Ovid's Metamorphoses. It was commissioned as a wedding present for Charles I and his French Queen Henrietta Maria, and was copied by Rubens and exerted a strong influence on Velasquez. In the 18th century the painting was given by the King of Spain to the Duke of Orleans, brother of Louis XV. Orleans was the greatest art collector of his day using the brilliant connoisseur and dealer Pierre Crozat as his agent. At this stage the story becomes one of skullduggery.The picture hung in the Palais Royal for most of the 19th Century but during the French Revolution the British fought to acquire the painting .

shenanigans which would leave the reader gasping in disbelief. In the 19th century the picture hung in Cobham Park but thanks to Bernard Berenson it was sold to Colnaghis and immediately sold on to Isabella Stewart Gardiner. It is the most celebrated example of how rich Americans managed to purchase works of art from British Collections and how Berenson made a huge fortune out of authenticating paintings for rich patrons, always purely for profit.Titian remains one of the most expensive artists in the world . The National Gallery has just spent .100 million on two paintings from the same series as The Rape of Europa . This thrilling book is part art history and part detective story, and is an entirely original way of telling a story.