The beautiful Europa

This statue is belonging to Flemish Brabant artist Rik Poot, De Ontvoering van Europa (De reiswijzer). 

It was created in 2004 and posted on March 20, 2008, two years after the sculptor's death. It was one of the last works he completed. Earlier, in 1993, Poot had made twelve miniatures of this image, commissioned by the then Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene. These images were presented to the European foreign ministers as a souvenir of the Belgian presidency of the European Union.

The bronze statue, referring to Greek mythology, shows the beautiful Europa on the back of a colossal bull. It symbolizes how Europa, daughter of King Agenor, was kidnapped by Zeus.

Shortly afterward he received the biennial Achilles Van Acker Prize in Bruges for his entire oeuvre.

The statue was purchased by the province of Flemish Brabant, the city of Leuven and KBC Bank & Insurance to decorate the Provincieplein after the redevelopment of this square and the esplanade connecting the square with the Leuven station.

 (Source: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provincieplein and Leuven Gebeiteld_metkaft - Leuven statues.pdf) 

Photo by Aslı Tezcan