The Rape of Proserpine
Francesco de Mura (Naples 1696 - Naples 1782)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1700 - 1799
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1295 x 1029 mm (51 x 40 1/2 in)
Place of origin
Naples
Order this imageCollection
Hinton Ampner, Hampshire
NT 1530125
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Rape of Prosperine by Francesco de Mura (Naples 1696 - Naples 1782). Pluto in his chariot clasping a struggling Proserpine, attendants expressing surprise, watched by Venus and Cupid from her chariot. A modello for the tapestry of which there is an example in the Palazzo Reale, Naples. Proserpine was the daughter of the corn-goddess Ceres and was snatched by Pluto, the king of the Underworld, who'd been struck by Cupid's arrow, whilst she was out picking flowers. A chasm opens before them as they descend below, to the dismay of her companions, who watch the event in the shadows on the left.
Provenance
Purchased by Ralph Stawell Dutton (1898-1985), 8th and last Lord Sherborne, from Colnaghi in 1961; bequeathed to the National Trust by Ralph Stawell Dutton, with the rest of the collections, house, gardens and estate of Hinton Ampner.
Credit line
Hinton Ampner, The Ralph Dutton Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Francesco de Mura (Naples 1696 - Naples 1782) , artist