Ratto di Proserpina

Catania

The fountain of the Rape of Proserpine, in Piazza Giovanni XXIII, side entrance of the Central Station in Catania. The realization was made by the sculptor Giulio Moschetti (1849-1909) who developed a theme, very close to the Sicilian territory that is the rat of the goddess Proserpina by Pluto. According to legend, Proserpina reborn in the spring of flowers to cover the whole island and then disappear arrival of winter cold, Giulio Moschetti took advantage of the opportunity to use a significant amount of space, this created a pool of unusually large size, comparable in Sicily only to the Fountain of Piazza Pretoria or "Hall of Shame" in Palermo . To make the figures of Pluto and Proserpina Young, the sculptor used as the raw cement material, the two statues are surrounded by sea horses and mermaids in different positions and expressions driving the chariot of the god Pluto, all in the middle of a large pool crowned with fountains and water jets. The sculptor Giulio Moschetti over the fountain Rape of Proserpina created the statues of Tragedy and Comedy placed on the front of the theater Bellini.