Front view of "Persephone" (Bacchante) in the Greek Theatre at Cranbrook

Front view of "Persephone" (Bacchante) in the Greek Theatre at Cranbrook

Bacchantes in art
Bronze sculpture, American--20th century.
Cranbrook Educational Community
Figure sculpture, American--20th century.
Fredericks, Marshall M., 1908-1998
Outdoor sculpture--United States.
Persephone (Greek deity) Art.

In Greek mythology, Persephone was the goddess of spring. Following her abduction to the Underworld by Hades, Persephone’s mother Demeter attempted to rescue her. After discovering Persephone had eaten a pomegranate seed and was therefore unable to return to the land of the living, Demeter refused to bless the harvest leaving the earth sterile. Filled with guilt, Hades made a compromise with Demeter to allow Persephone to spend half of the year with her mother in the upper world and the other half with him in the Underworld. The purpose of this Greek myth was to explain the continuing seasonal cycle of the earth each year.

Fredericks created Persephone in 1972 from his 1935 Bacchante sculpture at the request of Henry Booth (son of Cranbrook Educational Community founder George Gough Booth) for Cranbrook’s Greek Theatre, its present location.

Marshall M. Fredericks Papers
Series V, Box 18 Folder 11

n.d.

Use of this image requires permission from the Marshall M. Fredericks Archives.

V-18-11

image/jpeg

Image

Bloomfield Hills (Mich.)

Black and white print

8" x 10"