The Rape of Persephone

The sculpture "The Rape of Persephone" was created by François Girardon, a prominent French sculptor of the Baroque period. The sculpture depicts the mythological event where Hades abducts Persephone to be his queen in the underworld. This myth, as told in Greek tradition, explains the changing seasons: Persephone's time in the underworld corresponds to the barrenness of winter, while her return to her mother Demeter signifies the renewal of spring and summer. Girardon's work, completed between 1677 and 1679, aimed to rival the dramatic intensity of earlier Renaissance sculptures.123