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 a most unusual choice. It shows the return of Proserpine to Earth after her abduction by Pluto to the Underworld. Proserpine returned each spring for one third of the year. Her return is witnessed by, from the 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 been identified.