Hercules, Ceres and Proserpine in the decorative cycle at Palazzo Sampieri-Talon in Bologna

Abstract

In examining the fresco decorations of the Palazzo Sampieri-Talon in Bologna, the final collective work by Ludovico, Agostino and Annibale Carracci, with later additions by Guercino, the article concentrates on the yet unresolved reconstruction of its iconographic programme. The proposed interpretation is based on Claudian’s Alexandrine poem De raptu Proserpinae.