Votive Plaque (Pinax) with Persephone Making her Bridal Bed (c. 490–450 BCE): Art, History and Details

Votive Plaque (Pinax) with Persephone Making her Bridal Bed (c. 490–450 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Probably once brightly painted, this relief plaque belongs to a series of votive dedications made in Locri Epizephirii, near the “toe” of Italy, to the goddess Persephone (or Kore), daughter of Demeter. Following her abduction by Hades, god of the Underworld, Persephone regularly returned to earth, dictating the seasons and making agriculture possible. Often, as here, the plaques show domestic scenes.

Object facts

• Title: Votive Plaque (Pinax) with Persephone Making her Bridal Bed
• Date: c. 490–450 BCE
• Culture: West Greek / South Italian, Locri Epizephirii
• Type: Plaque
• Technique: Terracotta
• Dimensions: height: 17.1 cm (6 3/4 in.)
• Collection: GR - Greek
• Department: Greek and Roman Art
• Accession number: 2023.103

A detail from the museum

The rooster often appears with Persephone on such plaques, perhaps because both mark transitions.

Collection credit

Gift of Barbara S. Robinson and Family

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.