This large-format canvas from the Prado Museum, exhibited with its corresponding preliminary outline from Brussels, formed part of the series of paintings king Felipe IV commissioned Rubens for decorating the Torre de la Parada, a hunting lodge located on the outskirts of Madrid. Inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphosis, Rubens depicted one of the most dramatic and violent scenes of the entire series of paintings in this canvas that portrays the moment at which the beautiful Deidamia, also known as Hippodamia, daughter of the king of Argos, is abducted by the centaur Eurito during her wedding banquet with Pirithous, king of the Lapiths.