Today we are mixing:
- The Painting: “The Abduction of Europa” (1632) by Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn
- The Soundtrack: “Theology / Civilization” by Basil Poledouris (“Conan The Barbarian” Soundtrack)
About the Painting
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn’s The Abduction of Europa (1632) is one of his rare mythological subject paintings. The work is oil on canvas and now located in the J. Paul Getty Museum. The inspiration for the painting is Ovid‘s Metamorphoses, part of which tells the tale of Zeus‘s seduction and capture of Europa. The painting shows a coastal scene with Europa being carried away in rough waters by a bull while her friends remain on shore with expressions of horror. Rembrandt combined his knowledge of classical literature with the interests of the patron in order to create this allegorical work. The use of an ancient myth to impart a contemporary thought and his portrayal of the scene using the High Baroque style are two strong aspects of the work.
About the Soundtrack
We used “Theology / Civilization” theme by Basil Poledouris (from “Conan The Barbarian” Soundtrack).
Conan the Barbarian is a 1982 American epicsword and sorcery film directed and co-written by John Milius. It is based on stories by Robert E. Howard, a pulp-fiction writer of the 1930s, about the adventures of the eponymous character in a fictional world of dark magic and savagery. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Earl Jones, and tells the story of a young muscular barbarian warrior named Conan (Schwarzenegger), who seeks vengeance for the death of his parents at the hands of Thulsa Doom (Jones), the leader of a snake cult. Buzz Feitshans and Raffaella De Laurentiis produced the film for her father Dino De Laurentiis, with Edward R. Pressman as an executive producer. Basil Poledouris composed the music.
Basil Konstantine Poledouris (/ˈpɒlɪdʊərɪs/; August 21, 1945 – November 8, 2006) was a Greek-American composer, conductor, and orchestrator of film and television scores, best known for his long-running collaborations with directors John Milius and Paul Verhoeven. Among his works are scores for the films Conan the Barbarian (1982), Red Dawn (1984), Iron Eagle (1986), RoboCop (1987), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Free Willy (1993), Starship Troopers (1997) and Les Miserables (1998). Poledouris won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special for his work on the four-part miniseries Lonesome Dove in 1989, and was a four-time recipient of the BMI Film Music Award.