The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Head of Proserpina

Head of Proserpina

1650– 1700
(Italian, 1598–1680)
Overall: 15.2 x 10.3 cm (6 x 4 1/16 in.)

Description

This work was long thought to be a fragment of a preliminary study for a large-scale marble sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in Rome depicting Pluto, the god of the underworld, dragging Proserpina away to be his wife. Bernini’s finished studies never had the scrape marks visible on the cheek, indicating another sculptor’s hand. The work was owned by Bernini’s family, and his many studio assistants often copied his work. This terracotta therefore may be by one of the more significant sculptors of this group. The subject conveys fleeting expressions of sadness, fear, and surprise, and would have interested sculptors learning to convey complex emotions.
  • Heirs of Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Rome, Italy);
    Buseri (Rome, Italy) [sold, Sotheby's, 16 May 1968, no. 103, to Herbert N. Bier);
    Herbert N. Bier (London, England), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1968.
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    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 135 archive.org
    Simonato, Lucia. Bernini Scultore: Il Difficile Dialogo con la Modernità. Milano: Electa, 2018. Mentioned: p. 127 & p.135 Reproduced: p. 128, fig. 45
  • Rome, Italy; Palazzo Venezia (5/20-9/16/99) "Gian Lorenzo Bernini Regista del Barocco" p. 82, no. 27, p. 315, no. 27.
    Gian Lorenzo Bernini Regista del Barocco. Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia, Rome, Italy (organizer) (May 20-September 16, 1999).
    Baroque Imagery. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 6, 1984-January 6, 1985).
    Fort Worth, TX: Kimbell Art Museum, The Art of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, April 16-May 16, 1982, cat. 1, p. 17, repr. pp. 16, 18
    CMA: "Drawings by Gianlorenzo Bernini from the Museum der Bildenden Kunste, Leipzig, Germany," as circulated by the International Exhibitions Foundation, December 1, 1981-January 17, 1982
    CMA: Baroque Imagery," cat. 24, pp. 53-54, repr. p. 53
    CMA: "Year in Review for 1968," Bulletin, LVI (January 1969), p. 44, no. 12, repr. p. 4
    "Mostra de antiche sculture italiane," Studio d'arte Palma, Rome, 1945 (cited by Lavin, 1956)
  • {{cite web|title=Head of Proserpina|url=false|author=Gian Lorenzo Bernini|year=1650– 1700|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1968.101