Abstract
According to a purely Greek etymology, “Eurôpè” (ευρωπη) is derived from two Greek words: eur ý s and ṓps. The first, eurýs, means either “wide,” extending in width, or “vast,” extending far; the second, ṓps in Ancient Greek, means either “to look straight at” or “eye.” Eurôpè, “[she who has] large eyes,” became a female given name bestowed upon several figures in Greek mythology, notably the famous daughter of Agenor who was abducted by Zeus disguised as a bull.
This etymology—which is not the only possible one—has undeniable symbolic value. It raises questions about the role of the gaze, the image, and even art in the formation of European identity and difference. Though a burning issue today, this question is not new. Early art historians operated through a series of successive interconnections. Thus, for Giorgio Vasari, art was reborn after centuries of underground survival in Italy—or, to be more precise, in Tuscany—or, to be even more precise, in Florence. The quest for a center would haunt the collective imagination until the Age of Enlightenment, resulting in the utopia of the “Museum,” of which the Louvre is the direct heir. The “Mnémosyne” Atlas, conceived much later by Aby Warburg, proposed instead the virtuality of a network of images ideally linked together as far as the eye can see.
