Proserpine / Hiram Powers
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1991/2.40
- Title
- Proserpine
- Artist
- Hiram Powers
- Artist Nationality
- American
- Artist Life Dates
- 1805 - 1873
- Medium and Support
- Seravezza marble
- Object Creation Date
- second version: modeled 1844; cut 1847
- Object Creation Place
- North and Central America (continent)
- United States (nation)
- Creation Place 1
- North and Central America (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- United States (nation)
- Style/Group/Movement
- Neo-classical
- Dimensions
- 60 cm x 47.5 cm x 29 cm (23 5/8 in. x 18 11/16 in. x 11 7/16 in.)
- Century
- 19th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Sculpture
- Primary Object Type
- bust
- Physical Description
- Bust-length white marble sculpture of a young female figure crowned with a plait of wheat and framed along the bottom with a wreath of sculpted acanthus leaves.
- Subject Matter
- A Neoclassical sculptor, Hiram Powers is best known for his ability to render the soft, life-like quality of flesh in stone, and his insistence on using only the best, nearly flawless marble in his sculptures.
- Powers based the subject of this piece on the Roman mythological story of Proserpine (the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Persephone), in which the beautiful Proserpine, daughter of the goddess of agriculture, Ceres, was abducted by the god of the underworld, Pluto. She was allowed to return to her grieving mother for six months of the year, thus explaining the cycle of the seasons: during the spring and summer Proserpine was with her mother and the earth bloomed, during the fall and winter she was forced to be Pluto’s consort and earth fell into mourning.
- Primary Keywords
- bust
- bust-length
- busts
- classical
- figures (representations)
- legendary figures
- marble
- mythology
- mythology (literary genre)
- neoclassical
- sculpture
- woman
- women
- Secondary Keywords
- aegean
- aegean periods
- allegory and literature
- associated concepts
- card, table and board game elements
- concepts in the arts
- early western world
- european
- european styles and periods
- figures
- game pieces
- genres in the arts
- greek
- literary, oral and motion picture genres
- mediterranean
- modern european styles and movements
- objects we use
- people
- people (agents)
- people and culture
- people and occupations
- people by gender
- portraits
- recreational artifacts
- recreational artifacts for competitive activities
- styles and periods
- styles and periods by region
- visual works
- visual works by medium or technique
- visual works by subject type
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 873 x 1339
- File Size
- 49 KB
- Record
- 1991/2.40
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1991-sl-2.40/1991_2.40.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
Portfolios
- In public portfolios
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1991-SL-2.40:1991_2.40.JPG
Cite this Item
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- Full citation
-
"Proserpine; Hiram Powers." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1991-sl-2.40/1991_2.40.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 29, 2024.