The abduction of Proserpina ( Italian. Ratto di Proserpina ), or Pluto and Proserpina [1] - the marble sculpture by Giovanni Bernini , was created in 1621-1622, when the sculptor was 23 years old. Located in the Borghese Gallery ( Rome ). The height of the statue is 295 cm.
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| Giovanni Bernini | ||
| Abduction of Proserpine . 1621–1622 | ||
| marble. 295 × cm | ||
| Borghese Gallery , Rome | ||
The pupil of Bernini, Francois Girardon , in 1699 created the sculptural group " " [2] .
“I defeated marble and made it plastic, like wax ...” wrote Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini.
Content
The Legend of the Abduction of Proserpine (Persephone)
According to legend, the goddess Demeter ( Ceres among the Romans) had a young beautiful daughter, Persephone ( Proserpina ). Persephone's father was Zeus ( Jupiter ). Once Persephone, along with her friends, frolicked in a flowering valley. Zeus gave her as his wife to his gloomy brother Aida ( Pluto ), the ruler of the kingdom of shadows and the dead, and Persephone was to live with him in the darkness of the underworld.
Hades saw Persephone frolicking and decided to kidnap her right away. He begged the goddess Gaia ( Tellus ) to grow a flower of extraordinary beauty. Persephone saw the flower and extended a hand to him. But only she tore a flower, as the earth opened up, and a gloomy Hades appeared on a golden chariot.
He grabbed the young Persephone and disappeared into the bowels of the earth. Only managed to cry Persephone. No one saw how Hades was kidnapped by a girl, only the sun god - Helios ( Sol ). She heard the cry of Persephone Demeter. She began to look everywhere for her daughter, but she did not find anywhere. She asked her friends, but no one saw her. For nine days she wandered on the ground, shedding tears and searching for her daughter, and on the tenth she came to the god Helios and began to beg him to tell who had stolen Persephone. Helios told the grieving mother about everything. Demeter was angry that Zeus gave Persephone a wife to Aida without her knowledge. She left Olympus and became a mere mortal.
But Demeter was the goddess of fertility, and without her, all growth on earth ceased. The leaves on the trees withered and flown around, the grass faded, the flowers dried up. There were no fruits in the gardens, and heavy juicy clusters did not ripen in the vineyards. Zeus ordered Hades to release Persephone to the earth to his mother. Hades agreed to let Persephone go, but he had previously given her to swallow pomegranate seeds, the symbol of marriage. Since then, Persephone has lived two thirds of the year with her mother, and she spends one third with her husband, Hades.
Gallery
"The Abduction of Proserpina", Girardon , at Versailles , 1699
See also
- Figura serpentinata
Notes
- ↑ V.N. Grashchenkov. Art of Italy. Sculpture // Universal Art History. Volume IV. Art 17-18 centuries. / under the total ed. Yu. D. Kolpinsky and E.I. Rotenberg. - Moscow: State Publishing House "Art", 1963.
- ↑ V.E. Bykov, T.P. Kaptereva. Art of France. Art of the 17th century // Universal Art History. Volume IV. Art of 17-18 centuries / total. ed. Yu. D. Kolpinsky and E.I. Rotenberg. - Moscow: State Publishing House "Art", 1963.