Narrator: In Greek mythology, the fate of the young goddess, Persephone, explained why spring followed winter.

The story goes that Hades, King of the Underworld, abducted Persephone in his chariot. A yawning gap in the earth opened, and they disappeared into the darkness beneath. Her mother Demeter, goddess of harvests, was grief-stricken. She caused the crops to fail, and everyone starved. So Persephone was allowed to return to earth. But she’d eaten six forbidden pomegranate seeds in Hades’s kingdom. So she had to spend half of each year in the Underworld, and half on earth. The ancient Greeks believed her reunion with her mother heralded springtime, each year.

This beautiful Roman head of Persephone was once part of a whole sculpted figure. It closely copies ancient Greek portrayals of her made around 500 years earlier. Roman culture drew heavily on ancient Greece – especially from their mythology and art. This figure may have been made as a cult figure for the worship of Persephone and her mother Demeter – whose statue might have been placed nearby.

Persephone’s voluminous hair is a hallmark of early Greek sculpture. Curator in charge of Ancient Art, Renee Dreyfus:

Dreyfus: It's parted in the middle and it falls in these wavy tresses that frame Persephone's face, and there's delicate carving - you can see how careful the carving is. And what provides the work with its most characteristic and identifiable trait is this large twist of hair gathered at the back, and it's held in place with hairpins and secured by this wide band encircling Persephone's hair. It's so realistic.