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Cupid and Psyche

1817
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(French, 1748–1825)
France, 19th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 221 x 282 x 10 cm (87 x 111 x 3 15/16 in.); Unframed: 184.2 x 241.6 cm (72 1/2 x 95 1/8 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1962.37
Location: 201 French Neoclassical Painting & Sculpture
Public Domain
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Did You Know?

Jacques-Louis David included two butterflies in this painting: one above the slumbering Psyche and the other on the base of the couple's bed frame.

Description

David used the story of Cupid and Psyche to explore the conflict between idealized love and physical reality. Cupid, lover of the beautiful mortal Psyche, visited her nightly on the condition that she not know his identity. Cupid was usually depicted as an ideal adolescent, but here David presents him as an ungainly teenager smirking at his sexual conquest. David took inspiration from a number of ancient texts, including an obscure, recently published Greek poem by Moschus that describes Cupid as a mean-spirited brat with flashing eyes and curly hair.
Cupid and Psyche

Cupid and Psyche

1817

Jacques-Louis David

(French, 1748–1825)
France, 19th century

See Also

Videos

The Story of Cupid and Psyche

Meet the Model

The Butterflies

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