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| Francesco Sleter Arethusa tells Ceres of Proserpine's fate ca. 1732 oil on canvas Moor Park, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire |
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| Richard Cook Ceres disconsolate for the loss of Proserpine 1816 oil on canvas Royal Academy of Arts, London |
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| Francesco Sleter Ceres pleads with Jupiter for the return of Proserpine ca. 1732 oil on canvas Moor Park, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire |
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| Antoine-François Callet Ceres begging for Jupiter's Thunderbolt after the kidnapping of her daughter Proserpine 1777 oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
from The Metamorphoses
Meanwhile Proserpina's mother anxiously searched for her daughter
over the world, by land and by ocean, but all to no purpose.
Neither the dewy dawn nor the evening star ever found her
at rest. She lit two torches of pine in Etna's volcano
and bore them in either hand to illuminate her sleepless way
through the darkness of frosty night. When the stars were dimmed by kindly
day, she continued the quest for her child from west to east.
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| Virgil Solis after Jacopo Caraglio Ceres searching for Proserpine before 1562 engraving British Museum |
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| Jacopo Caraglio after Rosso Fiorentino Ceres searching for Proserpine 1526 engraving Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Pinturicchio Chariot of Ceres ca. 1509 detached fresco (ceiling panel) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Anonymous Italian Artist after Giorgio Vasari Chariot of Ceres ca. 1556 drawing Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Pietro de Angelis Chariot of Ceres ca. 1750-1800 drawing, with watercolor National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
Tired by her journey, she wanted to drink and hadn't yet moistened
her lips at a spring, when she happened to notice a straw-roofed cottage
and knocked on its humble door. Out came an old woman, who looked
at the goddess and, when she had asked for some water, provided a sweet brew
sprinkled with toasted barley. As Ceres drank what she gave her,
an insolent, coarse-looking boy strolled up in front of the goddess,
burst into laughter and jeered, 'What a greedy female you are!'
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| Wenceslaus Hollar after Adam Elsheimer Mocking of Ceres 1646 etching Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Hendrik Bary after Adam Elsheimer Mocking of Ceres before 1707 engraving Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Stefano della Bella Mocking of Ceres before 1664 etching Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
Deeply insulted, she rapidly threw what was left of her drink
in the prattling idiot's face and drenched him in barley mixture.
His soaking cheeks were instantly covered in spots, and his arms
were transformed into legs. As his body changed, it acquired a tail
and shrank to a tiny size which made it comparatively harmless,
shorter in length than the smallest lizard. Bewildered and weeping,
the poor old woman attempted to catch this extraordinary thing,
but it scampered into hiding.
– Ovid (8 AD), translated by David Raeburn (2004)
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| Anonymous (School of Fontainebleau) Ceres changing the Mocking Boy into a Lizard ca. 1600-1625 drawing Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Francesco Sleter Ceres changing the Mocking Boy into a Lizard ca. 1732 oil on canvas Moor Park, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire |
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| Adam Elsheimer Ceres changing the Mocking Boy into a Lizard ca. 1605-1608 drawing National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |