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Dimensions: 54cm., 21 1/4 in.

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Provenance: THE PROPERTY OF COUNT ADRIANO MATARAZZO DI LICOSA

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Notes: Proserpine is Powers' first work to be originally conceived as a bust rather than a full length figure. From 1838 the sculptor had been considering a new Ideal head which could be a pendant to his recently completed Ginevra. An opportunity arose two years later when Edward L. Carey, a publisher from Philadelphia, commissioned Powers to make an original work of his choice, at a cost of no more than $500. It was not until the spring of 1843, however, that Powers devoted himself to the bust of Proserpine. The first version of the bust used an elaborate wicker basket with spring flowers tumbling over the rim as the termination to the shoulders. Powers soon realised that this design was too complex to be replicated economically, so he developed two additional versions, one in 1844 with acanthus leaves on the shoulders and socle, as in the present example, and another in 1849 with a simple bead and leaf border.

Examples of this version exist in marbles of around 25in high as well as in this smaller 21-22in type. The effect of this slight reduction in size is that the bust becomes almost jewel-like in its calm introspective quality which is further enhanced in the present version with a beautifully preserved surface and delicately carved detail.

Related literature: Wunder, vol.2, pp.187-205