Ovid's account of the abduction of Europa is found in Book II 833-75 of Metamorphoses. Europa is a princess of Tyre, who is playing with her court on the coast when a beautiful bull appears. Europa mounts the bull, which quickly whisks her away into the ocean. When Europa and her friends notice the bull retreating further into the sea without coming back, the bull transforms into Zeus and carries her to Mount Olympus on the island of Crete. Rembrandt's painting is set just as Europa is whisked away, as seen by the bull and young lady in the ocean in the painting.