The Rape of Proserpina (also known as Ratto di Proserpina and more accurately translated as the Abduction of Proserpina) is a marble group sculpture by Italian Baroque artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The sculpture was executed early in Bernini’s career, when he was only 23 years old, sometime between 1621 and 1622.
The sculpture depicts Proserpina, who is abducted and taken to the underworld by Pluto. Pluto holds Proserpina aloft, as he carries her into the underworld.
The sculpture was commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese. The statue is made of rare Carrara marble, praised for its realism and detail. The pedestal it was originally placed on has since been destroyed.
Read more about the Abduction of Proserpina here.
