Proserpine, plate five from Demogorgon and the Deities

Although Goltzius's advances in line engraving found many followers, few pursued his equally original exploration of chiaroscuro woodcuts. This is one of a series of six oval-format chiaroscuro woodcuts of male and female goddesses. Persephone was abducted by Pluto to Hades and retrieved for six months each year by Demeter, her mother; with the establishment of this natural cycle, she is considered a symbol of fertility.