The Rape of Proserpina

(Persephone) is a large Baroque marble sculptural group by Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini, executed between 1621 and 1622. Bernini (7 December 1598 - 28 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his age, credited with creating the Baroque style of sculpture. The sculpture depicts the abduction of Proserpina (Persephone), who is seized and taken to the underworld by the god Pluto. The word "Rape" is the traditional translation of the Latin raptus, "seized" or "carried off", and does not refer specifically to sexual violence. As with many of Berninis early works, it was commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, possibly alongside a portrait of Scipiones uncle Pope Paul V (who had died in 1621). Bernini received at least three payments for the statue, of the value of at least 450 Roman scudi. The sculpture was begun in 1621 and completed in 1622. The statue was given by Scipio to Cardinal Ludovisi in 1622, who transported it to his villa. Purchased by the Italian State, it returned to the Villa Borghese in 1908.

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