Preview

The Rape Of Persephone By Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
419 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Rape Of Persephone By Gian Lorenzo Bernini
When I look at art in the seventeenth century, I am astounded by their accomplishments, especially with their lack of resources. Works of art like paintings, ceramics, but particularly marble, were a focal point for that era. Some background on the story of the kidnaping of Persephone. Demeter, the mother of Persephone, was god of fertility and agriculture and had Persephone with Zeus. Until one day Zeus, god of the heavens, agreed that his brother, Hades, god of the underworld, could marry and take his daughter with him to hell. The artist was able to capture what the myth told us and turn it into a piece full of expressions (structure). Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the artist of “The Rape of Persephone” is one of the most well-known marble perfectionist of his time (ethos). The way he made the …show more content…
Also the point of view, that there may be something bigger than humans, there is still a god like figure. I believe this piece’s audience would be an array of people. Fans of Bernini’s work, of marble sculptures, artists, and even people who like the myth could all appreciate the hard work he put into this beautiful piece. While looking at this piece it is easy to see what the tone is, heart-breaking. Persephone’s expression says it all, as well as her fighting to get away gives the viewer a heavy heart. However, if you look closer, you will see two tears rolling down her cheek that applies to the pathos of this sculpture. Overall, the context is clear on the art movement in Europe in the 1600’s and myths and art seem to fit together perfectly in that era. The metaphor is easier to see than you think. It is called the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The greek hero Perseus is one of the most famous ancient greek hero figures in history. To begin telling his tale of heroism I must first start with his legacy. The grandson of Acrisius and the son of Zeus and Danae, Perseus was born from very strong parents. Acrisius got word from an oracle that if is daughter Danae birthed a son, the child would kill his father. Acrisius, accordingly, shut up his daughter in a subterraneous chamber, made of brass and stone, but Zeus having metamorphosed himself into a shower of gold, came down upon her through the roof of the apartment, and became the father of Perseus. When Acrisius discovered that Danae had given birth to a son he cast her and Perseus into the sea in a golden chest. Miraculously…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston contains some of the greatest treasures of the Italian Renaissance, and not least among these is Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, painted in 1467 by Bartolomeo d. Giovanni Corradini, better known as Fra Carnevale. This Urbinian painter and architect produced some of the greatest architectural paintings of the early Renaissance, and his techniques expressed an interest in the progression of the Italian Renaissance style of classical idealism. The Presentation, measuring 57 5/8 x 38 in., depicts the apocryphal story of the Virgin Mary’s Presentation in the Temple of Jerusalem by her parents at the age of three. Executed in oil and tempera on panel, the work frames a young Virgin in purple by the grand, classical architecture of the Temple. The entire work confers an atmosphere of contrast: the softness of Mary’s companions with the sharply defined, half-nude beggars, the religious with the classical reliefs, the tiny Virgin with the enormous architecture, and the brightly lit interior with the cloudy sky. Fra Carnevale creates a mysterious, yet orderly, scene of subtle emotion and veiled heterogeneity.…

    • 1824 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Rape of Lucretia is a legend that was important to the Romans. It was a tragedy about a Roman matron woman who commits suicide. The story is important because it expresses the role of married women in the Roman civilization. It describes what behavior the Romans considered appropriate for a typical Roman wife. From reading this excerpt from the History of Rome, one learns that a women’s worth is based on their virtue, men considered their wives as possessions, and rape enraged the Roman population.…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This sculpture falls in the modern art category and the style is abstract expressionism. This sculpture is very large it is actually 110cm. The artist that created this sculpture was one of the many fine French Sculptors, he was one of the younger generation who started out as a Symbolist painter as well as a tapestry designer but he got an eye disease around the age of 40 and he had to give these things up but then found love for sculpting . This artist had a love for Greek sculpture but he rejected some of what it stood for. This piece of work symbolizes some sort of emotion from an older more mature female, she seems to be thinking about something going on in her life or maybe even crying out for help, the position that the woman is in ( elbow on the left leg which is raised, other hand touching the ground and head down) shows us that this woman is clearly trying to gain some sort of comfort.…

    • 2052 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Oedipus Data Sheet

    • 2581 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Sophicles pursued many passions of an ideal, wellrounded Greek citizen. He was a politician, writer,…

    • 2581 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Though questionable the popularity of rape/abduction imagery is undeniable as for three centuries (1475-1775) within the sphere of European culture heroic rape/abduction imagery was a staple of European prose and art. So much so that even church officials of the highest order commissioned majestic imageries of mythological rape for secular areas. Such as Pope Pius II who commissioned Pinturricchio's Pluto Raping Persephone (Fig. 1), for a library in the Siena Duomo for a larger set of Christian parables; or the two life-size sculptures (Apollo and Daphne and Rape of Proserpina)commissioned by Cardinal Borghese from from Bernini for Villa Borghese (Fig. 2 and 3). As previously mentioned however, pictorial representation of mythological rape/abduction…

    • 178 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    PartII The Middle Ages and Renaissance McGraw-Hill © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rig…

    • 1806 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Demeter and Persephone is a myth about Persephone being abducted by Hades. Once she is abducted the…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Innocence, desire, and obsession are all facets of the myth of Persephone and Hades. The arranged abduction that took place broke a divine mother’s heart enough to affect the course of life on Earth forever. Persephone, or commonly called Core, meaning “the maiden,” was sought after by Hades, ruler of the underworld (Persephone 1). He was smitten with her youth and beauty, but her mother, Demeter refused to let him have her hand in marriage (Persephone, Queen of the Underworld 1). The drastic measures that Hades would take to ensure Persephone’s hand in marriage would become known as The Abduction of Persephone.…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    One of the most famous myths of ancient Greece is of Demeter, goddess of the grain, and her daughter Persephone. Persephone was kidnapped by Hades and brought down to the underworld. Demeter searched desperately everywhere for the maiden but could not find her. During this time of Demeter’s sorrow the crops failed and people starved and the gods were not given their due. Zeus, king of the gods, ordered Hades to restore Persephone to her mother and Hades obliged but, because Persephone had eaten a certain number of pomegranate seeds while in the underworld, she had to spend half the year below the earth and could enjoy the other half with her mother. This story explained the change of the seasons in Greece. When it is warm and the fields are…

    • 168 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Perseus Research Paper

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Look up to the starry night sky and you may see the constellation Perseus. Perseus is one of the greatest Greek demigods and his story is equally great. The Greek hero is acclaimed for killing the gorgon monster, Medusa. From humble beginnings to ruling the land of Tirynth, Perseus is truly a Grecian hero. The handsome and brave Perseus is often painted holding Medusa’s severed head and winged sandals that the Greek god Hermes gave him to help defeat Medusa. Some artists often include the sword Perseus used to decapitate Medusa with. He is a righteous man gifted with courage. Unlike the majority of Grecian mythological creatures, heroes, and gods, Perseus does not have a downfall in his virtue. He is one of the very few Grecian heroes who did not have a vice that lead him to demise.…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The statue is nothing if not emotional, a woman, held tight against her captor, is being forced against her will to comply while a witness is a victim to the scene. It is horrific, it is tragic, it is entirely painful, but it is also amazingly beautiful. The marble the figures were crafted from is so incredibly detailed that every muscle, every expression, every vain, and even the smallest dimples are purposely and craftily executed. The statue is designed in a spiral…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Χαίρετε, or ¨hello¨ in you mortals English language. My name, as you may know, is Demeter, the goddess of harvest and grain. I am the powerful daughter of Kronos and Rhea. I, provide the growth of agriculture each year, including wheat, plants, and many harvestable crops. I have several symbols that are sacred to me including, many types of livestock, the crane, and various flowers.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Symbolism In Perpetua

    • 182 Words
    • 1 Page

    Throughout her story, Perpetua receives many cryptic visions which she needs to decipher. All of the visions are laced with symbolic meanings, creating insight into her plight. For instance, after she has the vision of fighting with, and defeating the Egyptian, Perpetua comes to the definitive conclusion that she, “…should not fight with beasts but with the Devil; but I knew the victory to be mine” (Musurillo 73). The significance of her visions are all faith driven since she strongly believes the Lord is providing her with a path to follow. Another interesting symbolic moment involves the vision of seeing her deceased brother, Dinocrates. In her vision she recognizes that her brother is in trouble, almost as if his soul needs to be saved…

    • 182 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Rape of the Sabine Women is a myth recounted by Greek biographer Plutarch and…

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays