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Rape of Proserpina

Maker

Luca Penni (artist)
1500-1577

Title

Rape of Proserpina

Date of Production

1544

Medium

pen and brown ink, brown wash, white bodycolour (now discoloured) on laid paper, squared in black chalk, incised for transfer, laid down

Dimensions

Height: 25.7 cm
Width: 33.7 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.832

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

The story of the rape of Proserpine (in Greek myth called Persephone), daughter of Ceres, the goddess of fertility, is linked to the fertility of the earth. Pluto, king of the Underworld, fell in love with Proserpine and abducted her in his chariot, down a great chasm to the Underworld. Much grieved by the loss of her daughters, Ceres vowed that the earth would remain barren until Proserpine was returned. Finally an agreement was made that Proserpine would return to her mother every spring, remaining on earth for one third of the year, when the land would become fertile. The remainder of the year she would spend in the Underworld, when the earth would return to its barren state. Penni's drawing focuses on the tragedy of the moment of Proserpine's abduction.

Provenance

Spencer (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952) n.d.; Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Luca Penni: un disciple de Raphael a Fontainebleau, Musée du Louvre, Paris, 08/10/2012-14/01/2013

Between Renaissance and Baroque: European Art 1520-1600, Manchester City Art Gallery, 1965

Literature

Luca Penni: un disciple de Raphael a Fontainebleau, Louvre, Paris, 2012-2013
cat. no. 28
p. 120
Fig. 111, p. 118

G.L. Conran, Between Renaissance and Baroque: European Art 1520-1600, Manchester City Art Gallery, 1965
cat. no. 354

Béguin, Sylvie, L’École de Fontainebleau: le maniérisme à la cour de France, Paris 1960
p. 69

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: lower right edge, white bodycolour: "Luc Pen". Verso (hidden under backing sheet): centre, large: “1”. Verso (backing sheet): upper centre, pen and brown ink: "HO"; centre, grey wash: "25".

Collector's mark: none.

Inscription: Watermark: none

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