
Return of the Proserpine - Louis Chéron
ceiling of the Little Hall
Louis Chéron c.1695
oil on plaster
This subject, also taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses, book v, is amost unusual choice. It shows the return of Proserpine to Earth afterher abduction by Pluto to the Underworld. Proserpine returned eachspring for one third of the year. Her return is witnessed by, fromthe top left, Iris, Jupiter, Juno, Ganymede, Pluto, Neptune, Apollo,Venus, Mars, Hymen, Mercury, and below by Diana, Minerva and Ceres.The mysterious figure to the left pointing at Proserpine has not beenidentified.