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The Rape of Proserpina
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| The Rape of Proserpina details |
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An early introduction to the work
The work I chose to look at for this weeks blog post is The Rape of Proserpina, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. I chose this work because of the amazing detail that the artist depicted in this piece and for the fame and legendary status of it. I had also heard about this work from a friend who went to Rome and visited the Galleria Borghese, which is the art gallery where this sculpture is housed, so now that I had to write a post about Baroque art, I knew this would be the piece I would do it on.
The work of art definitely inspired awe in me and it is a bucket-list thing for me to see the piece in-person at the Galleria, but it would be even better to own it.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect, that was believed to be the leading sculptor of his age and the person that created the sculpting style of Baroque. In the Sculpting Journal by Katherine Eustace, she refers to him as the Shakespeare of Sculpture, which is a pretty good reference for any artist.When it comes to The Rape of Proserpina the sculpture was created between 1621 and 1622, which means that at the time when Bernini started it, he was only 22 years old and in a year he created something that would be adored and would inspire awe in people for centuries to come.
The Rape of Proserpina
The work, as stated above, was created between 1621 and 1622 and is one of the most in detail and perfect sculptures I have ever seen. It has the harsh name given to it, because from the Latin word "Raptus" which in English would translate as "To seize" or "Carry off", the work was just named as The Rape of Proserpina, while it actually has nothing to do with rape, but the fact that the sculpture is based on the ancient Roman myth of the god Pluto abducting Proserpina, who is a goddess of Wine and taking her to the underworld. The emotions depicted in this work are definitely struggle and helplessness of Proserpina, while Pluto carries her away, but you can also feel the strength and respect that the art piece demands with its massive look and incredible detail. This work was done in Carrrara Marble and stands at 2,25m tall, which means it is a rather massive work.
The influence of royalty on Bernini
From the sources I read, the work Bernini did on The Rape of Proserpina was not influenced by royalty in any ways, however he did have his fair share of encounters with both Pope Alexander VII, Louis XIV and the French court, most of the encounters were when he was an older more established architect and artist. The work he was kind of forced to do for Louis XIV was designing the east facade of the Louvre in 1664 and I say forced, because he was pressured by the French Court and Pope Alexander VII, to take the job offer, since they were the authorities that financed the artist.
Sources used:
“Galleria Borghese.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 July 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galleria_Borghese.
Good evening Robert,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I just want to say that your visual aid really helps us, the readers, getting a good picture of what the sculpture is thanks to your extra picture with details. As you mentioned, Bernini was a great artist during the Baroque era and I believe owning a sculpture like this would be awesome. I know it is harder, and probably more expensive, than owning a painting but that would be a dream. Also carrara marble was used during the renaissance to make many projects and that is something we can connect to this art sculpture to the Baroque era.
Hi Roberts,
ReplyDeleteAs you stated in the opening paragraph, what really stands out in this piece is the attention to detail which Gian took to create this sculpture. The hand grasping the ladies waste shows this detail since you can see the indent of the fingers on the women waist. Something about sculptures makes me appreciate art in a way that paintings and drawings can't. This relates to the Baroque timeframe because the artist was known to be the creator of the baroque style. I could see myself visiting a piece like this in the future since sculptures are my favourite style of art.
Great work.
Hi! This sculpture that you chose is such a detailed piece of art, and we can only imagine that amount of attention and work went to create this detailed sculpture. What appeals to me in this piece is how the artist made stone or marble look soft. I have always found it very interesting how carvings have been able to do that, replicate skin and fabric texture and what not. This relates to the theme because he was believed to be the creator of the baroque style.
ReplyDelete