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The large marble group of
Pluto and Proserpina by Gian
Lorenzo Bernini, shows Pluto,
powerful god of the underworld,
abducting Proserpina, daughter
of Ceres. By interceding with
Jupiter, her mother obtains
permission for her daughter to
return to earth for half the
year and then spend the other
half in Hades. Thus every spring
the earth welcomes her with a
carpet of flowers.
The group was executed between
1621 and 1622. Cardinal Scipione
gave it to Cardinal Ludovisi in
1622, and it remained in his
villa until 1908, when it was
purchased by the Italian state
and returned to the Borghese
Collection. In this group
Bernini develops the twisting
pose reminiscent of Mannerism,
combined with an impression of
vital energy (in pushing against
Pluto's face Proserpina's hand
creases his skin and his fingers
sink into the flesh of his
victim).
Seen from the left, the group
shows Pluto taking a fast and
powerful stride and grasping
Proserpina, from the front he
appears triumphantly bearing his
trophy in his arms; from the
right one sees Proserpina's
tears as she prays to heaven,
the wind blowing her hair, as
the guardian of Hades, the
three-headed dog, barks. Various
moments of the story are thus
summed up in a single sculpture.
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