Roof van Proserpina 1659 - 1731

Curator: Before us is "Roof van Proserpina," an engraving by Pieter van Gunst dating from 1659 to 1731, currently held at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It has such a dramatic feel! There's almost a frantic energy in the figures’ poses, offset by the static medium of engraving. Curator: Yes, it’s charged with a certain violence, isn't it? We're seeing a visual representation of power, specifically patriarchal power enacted on Proserpina, and the artistic framing emphasizes that. Look at the cupid poised with his arrow above the abduction... it lends a complex, almost ironic commentary to the scene. Editor: Focusing on the materiality of engraving allows us to consider how the dissemination of this story occurs, it reduces what was initially a grand myth into something reproducible and consumable. Who are the laboring hands that created it and what’s being exchanged by seeing it recreated like this? Curator: It’s important to recognize that Van Gunst was reinterpreting existing visual narratives, continuing a lineage of representing this myth that is ripe for interrogation, particularly when we view the story from a feminist lens, noting how Proserpina's agency is entirely stripped from her. Editor: I agree; looking at the physicality, you can see the work needed to create these engravings, using various tools to imprint the material that renders such visual stories to the masses in its day. The production carries social and historical implications about its meaning, doesn’t it? Curator: Precisely. By delving into this depiction of Pluto's abduction of Proserpina, we also confront our ongoing cultural narratives surrounding power, gender, and consent, which often find subtle, and not so subtle, ways into contemporary discussions. Editor: Considering the relationship between material, process, and this particular narrative, this reproduction shows us the many aspects and angles in interpreting classical depictions. It highlights an unsettling act through artistry itself. Curator: Absolutely. Viewing "Roof van Proserpina" prompts us to ask critical questions about not only art's representation of myths, but their perpetuation and deconstruction.