Raub der Prosepina

Raub der Proserpina, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1632.
In the collection of the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.

A Dutch painting depicting the Greek myth of Hades (Pluto) god of the underworld, abducting Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, goddess of the Earth. This act of rape precipitated the fallowed fields and hallowed womb of the Earth and the dark cold days of winter as Demeter awaited the return of her daughter and the arrival of spring.