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Rape of Proserpina

ca. 1750
Not on view
In the 1740s Carlo Ginori, the founder of the porcelain factory at Doccia, acquired a number of sculptural models in wax, terracotta, and plaster made by some of the leading Florentine baroque sculptors. The challenge and reward for the porcelain modelers at the Ginori factory was to overcome the technical difficulties of this fragile new medium and to retain the dynamism and balance of the original models. This group, based on a bronze by Foggini, depicts Pluto stepping into the flames as he carries the struggling Proserpina off to the underworld.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Rape of Proserpina
  • Manufactory: Doccia Porcelain Manufactory (Italian, 1737–1896)
  • Factory director: Marchese Carlo Ginori
  • Maker: Gaspero Bruschi (Italian, ca. 1710–1780, active 1737–80)
  • Modeler: After a model by Giovanni Battista Foggini (Italian, Florence 1652–1725 Florence)
  • Date: ca. 1750
  • Culture: Italian, Florence
  • Medium: Hard-paste porcelain
  • Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): 19 1/2 x 13 7/8 x 9 3/8 in. (49.5 x 35.2 x 23.8 cm)
  • Classification: Ceramics-Porcelain
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Gift of Irwin Untermyer, by exchange, 1997
  • Object Number: 1997.377
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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ca. 1745
Baton, Wood, Italian, Tuscany
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Lion (one of a pair), Johann Gottlieb Kirchner German, Hard-paste porcelain, German, Meissen
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Snuffbox, Doccia Porcelain Manufactory Italian, Hard-paste porcelain, gold, Italian, Florence
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