The Rape of Persephone

As the story goes, the beautiful young Persephone was picking flowers when Hades burst forth from a cleft in the earth and carried the poor woman away with him, down into the bowels of the underworld.

In her grief, Persephone's mother, the goddess Demeter, forbade the earth to bear plant life, causing hunger and strife amongst mortals.

Under pressure to end the famine, Zeus eventually demanded that Hades release the woman. But, alas, it was too late. Hades had tricked Persephone into consuming pomegranate seeds. Having tasted the fruit of the underworld, she would never truly be free – Persephone was forever required to return to Hades for some months of each year.

The story of the rape of persephone is often interpreted as a commentary on the seasons and the perennial autumnal transition from life to death.

This story is also the basis for this series of still life compositions, which use a series of visual metaphors to deal with transience, recurrent death, and sexual violence.