The Rape of Proserpina

Bernini at 23, and already the most virtuosic marble carver in Europe. Look at Pluto's fingers pressing into Proserpina's thigh — the flesh actually dimples under the grip. Her tears are single drops of stone; his beard is deep-cut, almost lace. The three-headed Cerberus barks at their feet. Walk around it: from the left you see the abduction, from the front the struggle, from the right her outstretched hand pleading to the world she's leaving. This is theater in stone.