Cupid and Psyche

After completing the original piece, Psyche Revived By Cupid's Kiss, in 1793 through the marble medium, neoclassicist sculptor Antonio Canova created a second version by carving it out of plaster in the following year, 1794. This piece differs from the first, however, as Psyche is depicted with small butterfly wings protruding from her back. It was a modello piece, commissioned by Russian aristocrat Prince Nicolas Youssoupov which is now housed in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. The piece depicts the climax of the myth of Cupid in Psyche, right after the god-and-mortal lovers reunite following the last trial of love wherein Psyche falls into a death-like sleep when opening Persephone's box of "beauty". It represents the immense power of love over the challenges of life and the final union of the soul and love.