Proserpine

Today we start a special month with the amazing Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts collection. We hope you will enjoy it!  :)

In 1836, an American neoclassical sculptor, Hiram Powers, moved from the United States to Florence, where his talent was quickly recognized and where his studio became a major attraction for Americans making the Grand Tour. About 1839, Powers began to create ideal sculptures of heroic or mythological themes. His most famous work, The Greek Slave (1842), was shown in England and America, where it garnered great acclaim as well as notoriety for its nudity.

The sculpture we present today is a great example of how flexibly Powers treated the subjects of his works. The plaster model for Proserpine (who was the Roman variant of Persephone, the Greek goddess of spring) was completed in 1843. In the first marble replica, Proserpine's breasts and shoulders emerge from an elaborate basket of flowers. Later marbles such as this version have simpler terminations as a result of the high cost incurred when the Italian carvers executed the basket and flowers in the replicas. Proserpine was Power's most popular ideal bust; he produced nearly two hundred (!) marble replicas of it in full and reduced scale.

P.S. The dramatic story of Proserpine inspired many artists throughout centuries. See how the myth of Spring was presented in these 3 masterpieces! And if you want to test your knowledge about Greek myth, you should definitely check out our art history quiz!