Object of the month – February
Object Of The Month
1st February
Giovanni Battista Cipriani, Cupid and Psyche, 1771
With the arrival of February comes romance and celebrating loved ones on Valentine’s Day. One of the enduring symbols of love is the mythological god, Cupid. Cupid has been a popular figure throughout art history and is often found on Valentine’s Day cards today. We have a few representations of him in the Bowood collection, but for our Object of the Month, I want to share with you the story of Cupid and Psyche in this enchanting, colourful painting by Cipriani.
Meet the object
This round painting can be found in the New Front Hall at Bowood. It shows the winged Cupid, the son of Venus and Mars (the goddess of love and the god of war), gazing at Psyche, a mortal princess renowned for being incredibly beautiful. Their hands meet as they hold a chalice or cup. The background is a beautiful landscape with a blue sky and plenty of plants, which contrasts beautifully with the red of Cupid’s robe and enhances the lilac and gold of Psyche’s clothes.
Meet the artist
The painting is part of a wider series by the artist Giovanni Battista Cipriani, R.A. (1727-1785). The series was commissioned by the 1st Marquess of Lansdowne (1737-1805) for the Drawing Room at Shelburne, later Lansdowne, House in London.
Cipriani was an Italian artist who was born in Florence but spent over half of his life living and working in England. In the 1750s, he met the architect William Chambers (1722-1796) and sculptor Joseph Wilton (1722-1803) in Rome. After travelling with them to England in 1755, he joined forces with them and other artists to found the Royal Academy in 1768. Cipriani’s talents were wide-ranging. He worked with Chambers on a Gold State Coach for King George III in 1762; this is the same coach that is used for every royal coronation. Cipriani was also one of several Italian painters to work with the architect Robert Adam (1728-1792) on fulfilling the decorative schemes that Adam designed. Adam was the architect working on Lansdowne House in the 1760s.
Image: Francesco Bartolozzi, G. B. Cipriani, RA, 1783, Stipple engraving, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, B1977.14.19550.
The story of Cupid and Psyche
Greek and Roman mythological subjects have long been a source of fascination and depiction for artists. The story of Cupid and Psyche comes from Metamorphoses, or The Golden Ass, a work by the 2nd century writer Apuleius who was born in North Africa.
Psyche’s beauty was so renowned that Venus (who was also the goddess of beauty) was jealous of her. She pushed her son, who could make people fall in love with his arrows, to make Psyche fall for an unfit suitor. Instead, Cupid fell in love with Psyche.
Meanwhile, Psyche’s parents were told by an oracle that she should be left on top of a mountain because her future husband was a monster. She was saved from this fate and was sent to Cupid’s palace, where she could be hidden from his mother’s envy. Cupid would only visit her at night, not allowing her to see what he looked like, so she wouldn’t learn that he was a god.
Curious and taunted by her bitter sisters, when she tried to uncover his appearance with a lamp whilst he slept, Cupid awoke and flew away in anger.
Distraught and desperate to win back Cupid’s love, Psyche embarked upon a list of difficult tasks set by Venus. Though she eventually failed, the gods took pity on her and granted her the gift of immortality. Mercury (the god of travel and communication) then took her to Olympus to be reunited with Cupid. This episode, when Mercury escorts Psyche, is recorded by Cipriani in another round painting in the New Front Hall. Mercury can be identified by his winged feet and helmet.
Cupid and Valentine’s Day
Cipriani’s portrayal of the two lovers is certainly an appropriate one to examine in the month of Valentine’s Day.
Cupid has always been a god of love and attraction, and though the original martyr of St. Valentine (which could be based on up to three people) likely died around the 14th of February, the association of this date with romance probably has its origins in the Medieval period. Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1340/5-1400), author of The Canterbury Tales, wrote of the February feast of the saint: “For this was on St Valentine’s Day. When every bird comes there to choose his mate.” Thus, the association of love birds, spring and romance.
Cupid’s image was incredibly popular throughout medieval and Renaissance art, and, as Valentine’s Day reached the commercial age with the giving of cards, the winged god with his bow, arrow and capacity to make people fall in love became perhaps as popular a symbol of Valentine’s Day as roses or chocolate. With an epic tale of his own love story with Psyche, as painted by Cipriani here, it’s not hard to understand why.
Image: Anonymous, Valentine, 1850-60. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1981.1136.600.