The Abduction of Proserpine

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Artist: Alessandro Allori (Italian, 1535–1607)
Medium: Oil on panel
Size: 228.6 × 348 cm (90 × 137 in.)
Culture: Italian
Museum: J. Paul Getty Museum
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

Pluto, god of the Underworld, seizes Proserpine, daughter of Roman goddess of agriculture and fertility, Ceres, and prepares to return with her to his kingdom on a chariot drawn by black horses. According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, Proserpine was forced to live in the underworld for four months of every year; her departure from earth marked the advent of winter, and her return brought about spring and summer.

The muscular, marble-like figures illustrate the influence of Michelangelo (1475–1564) on the younger Florentine artist, while their complex, twisted poses and bright, saturated colors reflect that of his adoptive father and master, Bronzino (1503–1572). Painted on a large wood panel, this work was conceived as part of a series of three monumental mythological scenes painted between 1570 and 1572 as decoration for Alamanno Salviati’s villa at Ponte alla Badia near Florence. The accompanying scenes, depicting Aeneas and Anchises and Narcissus, are today located in the residence of the Turkish Ambassador, Washington, D.C.

Text: J. Paul Getty Trust, CC BY 4.0.