The Abduction of Persephone

A Tragedy

E n d o f a n A r t i s t i c R o m a n E r a

The Abduction

of

Persephone

b y : K r i s t i n e G a r c i a

& K e v i n M e s z a r o s

• Sadly, most Roman art did not survive, since historically the majority came from Pompeii. Yet from the eruption, the ash from Vesuvius preserved them well enough for us to see what they created.

• The Romans used paintings to decorate their houses, temples, tombs, and palaces. They also immortalized figures of their society in statues and vases.

• Also, the Romans had to learn Greek in order for their writings to be understood by many, and they had to write in Greek since the main language of the East at the time was Greek. Yet soon Latin was developed and widely used in the Roman Empire.

Project for Art History 111: Section 001: Ancient to Medieval Art.

Professor Elizabeth Flaherty.

Allegorical scene from the Augustan Ara Pacis, 13 BCE, a highpoint of the state Greco-Roman style.

A History

R o m a n A r t a n d i t s R o o t s

Works Cited

• There are many influences to Roman Art that include Greek, Egyptian, and during their final years began to include Barbarian, Germanic, and Celtic styles.

• The reason for Greek influence on Roman art is simply because many, if not most, of the Roman artists were of Greek origin, and that the Romans conquered the Greeks and made most of their artisans into their slaves.

• The Romans were the masters of absorbing those it conquered, and perfecting their ideas and crafts, as seen in many of their marble statues, and in most of their paintings, and pottery.

I n c l u d e s p i c t u r e s a n d i n f o r m a t i o n

• Collective Artisan: www.collectiveartisan.com/art-history/roman-art
• Theoi: www.theoi.com/khthonios/Persephone.html
• Britannica: www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/507905/ancient-Rome/26619/Culture-and-religion

• Slide 1: http://s1.zerochan.net/Persephone.240.852022.jpg
• Slide 2: http://files.myopera.com/JohnWilliamGodward/albums/4630312/RomanPainting1.jpg
• Slide 3: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Tellus_-_Ara_Pacis.jpg/320px-Tellus_-_Ara_Pacis.jpg
• Slide 4: http://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/persephone-and-hades.jpg
• Slide 5: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/Painting_vergina.jpg/220px-Painting_vergina.jpg

Fresco Depicting The Reading Of The Rituals Of The Bridal Mysteries (60-50 BC)

Any Questions?

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A Myth

P e r s e p h o n e

The Abduction of Persephone

Daughter of Ceres and Jupiter, Persephone was the goddess of Springtime and Grain. Her father actually aided in her abduction by his brother, Pluto, God of the Underworld and behind Ceres's back, she was whisked away to the Underworld and forced to stay there by a trick.

The trick was that Pluto offered her Pomegranate seeds to eat, and by eating six, she was condemned to stay in the underworld for six months out of the year. Wounded, Ceres took away summer and spring from the land while her daughter was away, and when ever Persephone comes up from the underworld, she brings life and spring with her.

This myth is the explanation by the Greeks/Romans as to why there are seasons, and by lore Persephone is depicted with either a flaming torch or sheaves of grain, and is a young, dark-haired beauty and the wife of Pluto, while Pluto is usually depicted as a man with a dark beard and a scepter with a bird at the tip.

• This particular painting, "The Abduction of Persephone", was found in Vergina, Macedonia in Philip II's tomb. Philip II was king of Macedon from ca. 359-336 b.c.e., and he was assassinated at the capital of Macedon, Aegea.

• The assassin, Pausanias of Orestis, was one of his bodyguards who was killed while trying to flee. Philip's father was King Amyntas III and mother was Eurydice I. Philip II was also the father of Alexander the Great who ruled from ca. 336-323 b.c.e.

• The tomb that the piece was found in is referred to as the Tomb of Persephone, and the tomb was ransacked during the Gaul invasion causing damage to the wall painting. It was 1m high and 3m wide, and believed to be a Fresco.

Hades abducting Persephone, wall painting in the small royal tomb at Verghina

(Vergina), Macedonia. 4th century b.c.e. Frescso.

Pluto and Proserpina by Gian Lorenzo Bernini ca.1621. Marble