A continuation of the body swapper idea from a while ago.
![[DARK] Prehistoric Swapyre - Bodyswap by Transviscera](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/87684d17-8b34-4054-a6cc-9b9e97dcb44a/dg6fgub-edb7e4d1-b9d7-4eb8-ba95-a0284b0797a2.png/v1/fit/w_150,h_150,q_70,strp/_dark__prehistoric_swapyre___bodyswap_by_transviscera_dg6fgub-150.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsImV4cCI6MTY5NzYzMzMzMCwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0xMDcyIiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvODc2ODRkMTctOGIzNC00MDU0LWE2Y2MtOWI5ZTk3ZGNiNDRhXC9kZzZmZ3ViLWVkYjdlNGQxLWI5ZDctNGViOC1iYTk1LWEwMjg0YjA3OTdhMi5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MjQ1MCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.9_dipYS4dIzuvX2RDY2vgx1B4cs7X5dG5LGYrno1MIM)
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (b. 1599)
The Abduction Of Pluto 1621 - 1622
Carrara marble, Glass
The sculpture, the Abduction of Pluto, often mistranslated as the Rape of Pluto, was commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese. It depicts the latin myth of the failed abduction of Proserpina by the Greek ex-god of the Underworld, Pluto.
Bernini's statue show the climactic moment of the story, where Pluto lays hands upon the Proserpine as she gathers flowers, unaware that the woman is in truth a swapyre. Coloured spirals of extruded glass encircling the sculpture depict the moment in which the young Proserpina drains the god's soul, imprisoning him eternally in her mortal form, and seizing his godly body and mantle for herself. The newly deified Proserpina drags Pluto to the Underworld, there to serve as her bride and slave girl forevermore.
Though a story of myth, the sculpture provides us a fascinating insight into the anxieties that preoccupied men of that time: loss of status, emasculation, and the fear that even the most powerful are not above judgement. Most especially, it embodies the abject terror of the swapyre common to both Greek culture and the later society of Cardinal Scipione.
For, though pariahs throughout history, the idea of the swapyre has often stood as a kind of moral guardian; the fear that what we do onto others may be done upon ourselves.