Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Ratto di Proserpina - Dettaglio

THE REVIEW

It is in savoring certain details that one often perceives the feeling of magnificence of certain works.

It is by observing, for example, the grace and delicacy of this velvety touch of Pluto's hand, king of the underworld, on the thigh of Proserpina, daughter of Jupiter, who vainly tries to escape her abduction, that one realizes the greatness and enormous sensitivity of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the author of the famous baroque sculpture titled "The Rape of Proserpina" (1620-1621) exhibited at the Borghese Gallery in Rome.

It is indeed thanks to the skillful play of light and shadow in this framing that we sense the masterful use of space, the sense of depth from the pressure given by the hand, and the harmonious delicacy of some parts of the human body that seem to live and pulsate with life of their own. It seems as if observing a stop-frame of a film scene, frozen in "an endless and sublime moment" that returns to us, in every single detail and in every position in space occupied by the bodies so articulated, a divinatory sensation of ecstasy out of time.

The two mute bodies here "tell" us, speak to us, and the individual details (like this marbled grip, strong and soft at the same time, which already hints at the character and personality of the "evil" God of Hades with a hard but gentle soul towards the fairer sex) are witnesses of this dramatic story without words, carved from the marble that never ceases to surprise us (see other framings here, here and here). Always for those who have the patience and sensitivity to "let themselves be crossed" by this intense and palpable emotional wave that is felt when one finds oneself "magically" in front of immortal and vitality-pulsating works like this.

Go see it with your own eyes. For me, it's really worth it.

Piazzale del Museo Borghese, 5 - Rome - Tel. 06 8413979 - 06 32810

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