The Rape of Proserpina
| The Rape of Proserpina | |
|---|---|
| File:The Rape of Proserpina 1 - Bernini - 1622 - Galleria Borghese, Rome.jpg | |
| Artist | Gian Lorenzo Bernini |
| Year | 1621–1622 |
| Type | Marble |
| Dimensions | 225 cm (89 in) |
| Location | Galleria Borghese, Rome |
The Rape of Proserpina is a large Baroque marble sculptural group by Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini executed between 1621 and 1622. Bernini was only 23 years old at its completion. It depicts the Abduction of Prosperina, where Proserpina is seized and taken to the underworld by the god Pluto.
Patronage
As with many of Bernini's early works, it was commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, possibly along side a portrait of Scipione's uncle Pope Paul V (who had died in 1621). Bernini received at least three payments for the statue, of value of at least 450 Roman scudi. The sculpture was begun in 1621 and completed in 1622. Quite soon after completion, the statue was given by Scipione to Cardinal Ludovisi in 1622, who transported it to his villa. Purchased by the Italian State, it returned to the Villa Borghese in 1908. [1]
Critical Reaction
Most critics have also been quick to praise the work. Rudolf Wittkower noted that "representations of such rape scenes depended on Bernini's new, dynamic conception for the next hundred and fifty years. [2] Howard Hibbard makes similar comments noting the realistic effects that Bernini had achieved via the carving hard marble - such as the "texture of the skin, the flying ropes of hair, the tears of Persephone and above all the yielding flesh of the girl". [3]. The choice of incident to depict the story is commonly cited as well - Pluto's hands encircle the waist of Proserpina just as she throws her arms out in an attempt to escape. [4]. Bernini's own's son and biographer, Domenico, called it "a amazing contrast of tenderness and cruelty." [5]. However, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when Bernini's reputation was at a low ebb, critics found fault with the statue. The eighteenth-century French visitor Jerome de la Lande allegedly wrote that "Pluto's back is broken; his figure extravagant, without character, nobleness of expression, and its outline bad; the female one no better."[6]. Another French visitor to the Villa Ludovisi was equally critical - "The head of Pluto is vulgarly gay his crown and beard give him a ridiculous air, while the muscles are strongly marked and figures poses. It is not a true divinity, but a decorative god."[7]
Others have remarked on the twisted contrapposto or figura serpentinata pose of the group. While reminiscent of Mannerism, particularly Giambologna's The Rape of the Sabine Women, Bernini permits the viewer to absorb the scene from one single viewpoint. While other views provide further details, a spectator can see the desparation of Persephone and the lumbering attempts of Pluto to grab her. This was in contrast to the Mannerist sculpture of Giambologna, which required the spectator to walk around the sculpture to gain a view of each of character's expressions. [8].[9]
Related Works
In 1811 the Russian sculptor Vasily Demut-Malinovsky created a sculpture also titled "The Rape of Proserpina". The statue currently resides in Saint-Petersburg.
Gallery
References
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Bernini's Pluto and Proserpina, Smarthistory |
- ^ Wittkower, p.235
- ^ Wittkower, p.14
- ^ HIbbard, p.45
- ^ ibid.
- ^ Bernini, p.18
- ^ Smith, p.238
- ^ Taine, translated Durand, p.205
- ^ Hibbard, p.48
- ^ "Bernini's Pluto and Proserpina". Smarthistory at Khan Academy. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
Further reading
- Baldinucci, Filippo (1966). The life of Bernini. Translated by Catherine Enggass. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.
- Baldinucci, Filippo (1682). Vita del cavaliere Gio. Lorenzo Bernino. Firenze: Stamperia di V. Vangelisti. Copy at Google Books.
- Bernini, Domenico (1713). Vita del Cavalier Gio. Lorenzo Bernino. Rome: Rocco Bernabò. Copy at Google Books.
- Bernini, Domenico (2011, orig. publ. 1713). Franco Mormando (ed.). The Life of Giano Lorenzo Bernini. University Park: Penn State University Press. ISBN 9780271037486.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|year=(help) - Hibbard, Howard (1990). Bernini. London: Penguin. ISBN 9780140135985.
- Wittkower, Rudolf (1997). Gian Lorenzo Bernini: the sculptor of the Roman Baroque (4 ed.). London: Phaidon Press.
- Smith, Sir James Edward (1793). A sketch of a tour on the Continent. printed for the author, by J. Davis; sold by B. and J. White, 1793. Copy at Google Books.
- Taine, Hippolyte (1871). Italy: Rome and Naples; Florence and Venice. Leypoldt & Holt. Copy at Google Books.
External links
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