The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 12, 2025

Votive Plaque (Pinax) with Persephone Making her Bridal Bed

c. 490–450 BCE

West Greek/South Italian, Classical

Terracotta
height: 17.1 cm (6 3/4 in.)
Gift of Barbara S. Robinson and Family 2023.103
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

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

Description

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.
  • Early 1960s-1989
    Oberingenieur Jakob Muller-Binder, Zurich, Switzerland, descended to Mr. Dennis Muller
    1989-at least 1996
    Mr. Dennis Muller, Switzerland
    -2007
    F.A.C. Kunsthandel (Wolfgang Wilhelm), Frankfurt, Germany, sold to Mrs. Barbara Robinson
    2007-2023
    Barbara Robinson, Cleveland, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2023-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Votive Plaque (Pinax) with Persephone Making her Bridal Bed|url=false|author=|year=c. 490–450 BCE|access-date=12 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2023.103