Window of the Week: Proserpine

In Greek and Roman mythology, the goddess Proserpine was carried off to the Hades by Pluto, who married her despite her love for Adonis. When her father Ceres begged Jupiter to return his daughter to Earth, he agreed provided that she had not eaten any fruit in the Underworld. Since Proserpine had eaten six pomegranate seeds, she had to remain in Hades for six months each year, symbolizing the changing seasons.

Inspired by an 1874 painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (Rossetti painted eight versions of this image), we created Proserpine as a showroom piece in the early 1990’s. Proserpine was the first of many windows we have made over the years inspired by Pre-Raphaelite paintings.