id:			143645
accession number:	1968.101
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1968.101
updated:		2020-11-04 21:08:00.965000

Head of Proserpina, 1650- 1700. After Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Italian, 1598-1680). Terracotta; overall: 15.2 x 10.3 cm (6 x 4 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1968.101

title:				Head of Proserpina
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1650- 1700
creation date earliest:		1650
creation date latest:		1700
current location:		301 Baroque Sculpture Mezzanine
creditline:			John L. Severance Fund
copyright:			

---

culture:	Italy, 17th century
technique:	terracotta
department:	European Painting and Sculpture
collection:	Sculpture
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

---

CREATORS

* Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Italian, 1598-1680)  - artist

---

measurements: Overall: 15.2 x 10.3 cm (6 x 4 1/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	penciled inscription on neck:  "Palazzo Bernini / 1839"
	translation:	
	remark:		

---

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Baroque Imagery
	opening date:   1984-11-06T05:00:00
	<i>Baroque Imagery</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 6, 1984-January 6, 1985).

	title:		Gian Lorenzo Bernini Regista del Barocco
	opening date:   1999-05-20T00:00:00
	<i>Gian Lorenzo Bernini Regista del Barocco</i>. Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia, Rome, Italy (organizer) (May 20-September 16, 1999).

---

LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* "Mostra de antiche sculture italiane," Studio d'arte Palma, Rome, 1945 (cited by Lavin, 1956)<br>CMA:  "Year in Review for 1968," Bulletin, LVI (January 1969), p. 44, no. 12, repr. p. 4<br>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<br>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<br>CMA:  Baroque Imagery," cat. 24, pp. 53-54, repr. p. 53<br>Rome, Italy; Palazzo Venezia  (5/20-9/16/99) "Gian Lorenzo Bernini Regista del Barocco"  p. 82, no. 27, p. 315, no. 27.

---

PROVENANCE

	Heirs of Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Rome, Italy);
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Buseri (Rome, Italy) [sold, Sotheby's, 16 May 1968, no. 103, to Herbert N. Bier);
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Herbert N. Bier (London, England), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1968.
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


---

fun fact: 


digital description: 


wall 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.
---

RELATED WORKS

---

CITATIONS

	
	page number: 	
	url:		

	
	page number: 	
	url:		

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 135
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n155

	Simonato, Lucia. <em>Bernini Scultore: Il Difficile Dialogo con la Modernità</em>. Milano: Electa, 2018.
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 127 & p.135 Reproduced: p. 128, fig. 45
	url:		

---

IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1968.101/1968.101_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1968.101/1968.101_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1968.101/1968.101_full.tif