Dubbed 'a mighty poet' by American author Henry James, Titian remains one of the most celebrated painters in Western art. Since his death in 1576, the artist's reputation has never waned. In Gilded Age America, Titian paintings became the peerless prizes of leading collectors and quickly rose to the top of Isabella Stewart Gardner's wish list. In 1896, she landed his masterpiece, The Rape of Europa. It became the sole example of his celebrated cycle of poesie outside of Europe, inspired an entire gallery in her newly built museum, and contributed to England's national outcry over the loss of its art treasures. This book - the first dedicated to Europa - tells the painting's story in Gardner's time, in Titian's, and offers rare insights into the artist's virtuoso technique.