Persephone in Hell – Original Painting

Available for purchasing.

Original oil painting on gallery quality canvas with gold leaf and varnished.

Comes with certificate of authenticity.

Painting description: 

Another mythological myth. An abduction to hell.

Short story of Persephone: A Greek/Roman Goddess taken against her will to marry the God of the Underworld. Persephone’s mother Demeter, the Goddess of harvest and agriculture, searched the world for her daughter, but in vain. Demeter in distress then stopped all growth of fruits and vegetables and walked the Earth creating a desert with each of her steps. 

The God of the Underworld made Persephone eat six pomegranate seeds because those who have eaten the food of the dead could not return to the world of the living. This meant that Persephone now could spend six months a year with her mother and the rest of the year she was bound to hell.

The story illustrates the changing of seasons: when Demeter welcomes her daughter back in spring the Earth blossoms, and when Persephone returns to her husband, it withers.

In the autumn before Persephone departs, her mother changes the leaves to warm shades of brown and orange, which is her daughter’s favorite color, as a gift before she has to return to the Underworld. 

The warm and bright gold background decorated with honey-beehive-structure is a symbol of a mother’s sweet love for her daughter. The leaves represent the changing season as the myth of Persephone illustrates. As Persephone is stuck in hell for six months, winter arrives and for a time the earth is barren. The winter can be so long, but remember spring will always come, Mother and daughter will unite and the earth will blossom again.

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