Ceres pleading with Jove for the Return of Prosperpina: Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book V 1713 - 1733

Thomas Carwitham created this ink drawing titled *Ceres pleading with Jove for the Return of Prosperpina: Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book V.* The drawing depicts a dramatic encounter between Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, and Jove, the king of the gods, highlighting themes of power, familial love, and loss. Carwitham, working in the 18th century, operated within a society marked by rigid class structures and patriarchal norms, which are subtly reflected in the dynamic between the figures. Ceres' emotional plea to Jove embodies the anxieties and vulnerabilities experienced by women, whose roles and rights were often circumscribed by male authority. The narrative taken from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, encapsulates a universal emotionality through the tale of a mother’s love and desperate negotiation with power. Although these are mythological characters, Carwitham's work humanizes them, revealing the tensions between divine authority and human desire.