The Rape of Europa

Reviews / Votes

This book is not just the history of one of the world's greatest paintings; it brings to life all the stages of its long journey from Venice through Spain, France and England and finally to Mrs Isabella Stewart Gardner's glorious Fenway Museum in Boston - I was fascinated every inch of the way * John Julius Norwich * An absorbing account of how a single, highly coveted artefact embodies the zigzags of political power, economic clout and cultural ambition through succeeding ages * Literary Review * Takes the reader from the inbred, art-loving Spanish royals of the 16th century to the 500-piece art collection of the dissolute Duke of Orleans who was to lose it - and his head - during the French Revolution, to the wealthy art-buyers of 19th century Britain. * Independent *