Ekphrasis II

Thomas Cane

               A marble weaving of terror and lust stands before me.  Motion flows through the piece starting at her face contorted in fear while she pulls her head away.  Her left arm pushes out against the empty air in a desperate attempt to flee his clutches.  The right arm pushes against the side of his face with such power that it stretches his eyebrow upward.  Looking at his face it bears a strained grimace as lustful determination has saturated his mind.  Curls of hair sit trapped underneath a crown while a similarly curled beard moves is swept to the side as he tries to pull her closer.  His arms stretch out, covered in muscular striations from the strain of forcing this goddess to his realm.  The grasping hands pull into her back and thigh, with his fingers pressing into the marble with such terrible elegance it’s as if the figures were truly alive.  Her perfectly polished legs are pulled up slightly from his hand clutching her thigh.  She is unable to touch the ground as he has erupted from the ground to claim her and she struggles in his unbearable grasp while his left leg, draped in cloth, supports her weight allowing him greater control.  Below her feet and beside his powerful striding legs snarls the three headed hound.  The left head looks out beneath her dangling feet, watching for anyone who might oppose his master’s wishes.  The center looks up and bears its fangs letting loose a howl at the struggling goddess.   Circling to the right head it stares directly forward at anyone who might pass by almost asking them if they would dare intervene and go against the god. 

(This is based on the Rape of Persephone by Bernini)