"The Rape of Proserpina" (Italian: Ratto di Proserpina) is a masterpiece of white marble, pulsing with passion and drama, carved from under the chisel of the genius of Italian Baroque, Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini.
History of the Sculpture
By order of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, in 1621-1622, Bernini created this statue, which still amazes the imagination in the "Hall of Emperors" of the Villa Borghese in Rome.
The work blazed from June 1621 and was completed in 1622, with the fee for this marble madness being at least 450 Roman scudi.
The Myth of the Rape of Proserpina
According to the mythological storyline, the goddess Demeter had a daughter Persephone, whose beauty was enchanted by Hades. Zeus gave her to his gloomy brother as a wife.
Once, in a valley strewn with flowers, the insidious Hades lured Persephone. The moment she picked an unprecedented flower, the earth gaped open, and the gloomy god carried the girl to his domain.
Bernini's Mastery
Art historians find echoes of ancient statues in "The Rape of Proserpina." Bernini's Pluto appears regally, with a crown and scepter.
"The group is wonderfully composed," wrote V.G. Vlasov, "it is filled with stormy, intense movement... Pluto's fingers literally dig into the marble thigh of Proserpina, melting in the light."
The body of Proserpina, pushing off from the ground, is conveyed with incredible plasticity. Every fold of clothing, every muscle, every strand of hair creates the sensation of living movement.