The Abduction of Ganymede (Ganymede in the Claws of an Eagle) by Rembrandt Harmens Van Rhine

Painting by the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn “Abduction of Ganymede”. The size of the painting is 171 x 130 cm, oil on canvas. According to mythology, the son of King Troy Ganymede, because of his extraordinary beauty as a child, was kidnapped by the gods to heaven, where he became the favorite and the butler of Zeus.

According to other legends, Zeus himself commanded his eagle to abduct Ganymede. Since Ganymede has a vessel with it as an attribute, it was identified with the deity of Nile; ancient astronomers placed it in the constellation of Aquarius. From the images of Ganymede, the Vatican statue is known: Ganymede, holding a shepherd’s staff, is carried by the eagle of Zeus to the sky; and the statues of Carsten and Thorvaldsen.

In the mid-thirties of the 17th century, along with commissioned works, Rembrandt painted pictures that arose at his own will, in part they were intended for sale on the free market, but moreover were the result of his self-expression, the result of the author’s controversy about art and life.

Biblical and mythological stories such as the Abduction of Ganymede, Abraham’s Sacrifice, Samson’s Dazzle or Rembrandt’s Balthasar, while adapting to the dominant baroque in the Southern Netherlands, aim at the existing interests of the artistic market.

In his outlook, Rembrandt is, first of all, a profound realist: all his works are imbued with realism, regardless of what area the artist drew for them plots. Even in the paintings of mythological themes, Rembrandt does not deny reality, the painter in his canvases represents the ancient gods and goddesses in the form of the Dutch and the Dutch contemporary to him.

Moreover, in some paintings of this kind, Rembrandt tries to reject every idea of the beauty of the forms inherent in the Greek gods, and deliberately goes into some caricature.