The Rape of Proserpina

Galleria Borghese, Room IV The detail everyone remembers is Pluto's fingers pressing into Proserpina's thigh, and it is worth getting close for: hard marble made to look like yielding flesh. Bernini finished the group in 1622, and it is far from a gentle myth, so it may not suit every child. Look for the three-headed dog Cerberus at Pluto's feet, which also helps hold the whole group up, then step back to take in the twisting pose. Seeing it in the same two-hour slot as Apollo and Daphne shows how fast the young Bernini was moving, from violence to transformation in a few years.