Detail View: ADJUNCT MODULE B: ITALIAN ART: Pluto and Proserpina

Collection: 
ADJUNCT MODULE B: ITALIAN ART
Preferred Title: 
Pluto and Proserpina
Alternate Title: 
The Rape of Proserpina
Image View: 
Context view in the gallery
Creator: 
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Italian sculptor, 1598-1680)
Location: 
repository: Galleria Borghese (Rome, Lazio, Italy)
Location Note: 
Piazzale Scipione Borghese, 5
GPS: 
+41.914+12.492
Date: 
1621-1622 (creation)
Cultural Context: 
Italian
Style Period: 
Baroque
Work Type 1: 
sculpture (visual work)
Classification: 
Sculpture and Installations
Material: 
marble
Technique: 
carving (processes)
Measurements: 
295 cm (height)
Subjects: 
deities; human figure; mythology (Classical); Hades; Pluto
Description: 
Bernini was commissioned by Scipione Borghese to produce a series of over life-size marble statues for his new villa by the Porta Pinciana. There is great naturalism in Pluto and Proserpina, an explosive combination of motion and emotion in which Pluto strides vigorously forward carrying the struggling Proserpina across the threshold of the underworld, represented by the snarling, three-headed dog Cerberus. Soft flesh yields to the violent grasp of the muscular god as marble tears course down Proserpina’s cheeks. The impact of this over life-size group is intensified by its placement indoors on a low pedestal and set against a wall commanding a frontal viewpoint. (Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/)
Collection: 
Adjunct Module B: Italian Art
Identifier: 
7A1-BG-BG-PAP-A42
Rights: 
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.