EROS
Canova, A. (1794). Cupid and Psyche [Sculpture]. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, United States. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/188954 A Neoclassical plaster sculpture of winged god Cupid leaning over a reclining Psyche reaching up around his head in a passionate embrace. The figures are almost kissing with Cupid's wings extended outward and Psyche's head tilted backward. Figures are mounted on a rocky base.
Sejal Shah
Cupid and Psyche is an Italian plaster sculpture created in 1794 by Antonio Canova as a full-size second version of his marble sculpture Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss. It depicts the mortal Psyche and her lover, Cupid during a pivotal moment in their myth where Cupid revives Psyche from a death-like sleep. Representing the marrying of love (eros) and soul (psyche), this sculpture and the myth surrounding it demonstrates Greek themes of romantic love that have recurred through thousands of years, namely its transcending nature and persistent resolve. I assert that these themes, seen in even the design of the sculpture showing elevation and balance, prove that true love goes much deeper than physical attraction.
The myth surrounding Cupid (who is a representation of Eros, the god of love and desire), and Psyche (an originally mortal woman who becomes goddess of the soul), begins with an almost sacrilegious affair between god and mortal. After accidentally falling in love, Cupid visits Psyche during the night under the condition that she not view his face (Morford et al. 379). One night, Psyche puts an oil lamp to Cupid’s face to see him and drops it on his right shoulder, prompting him to fly away (Morford et al. 380). As a result, Psyche is punished with a series of impossible tasks by Aphrodite but completes them with help from divine and natural forces intervening (Morford et al. 381). During her last task she ends up capturing “sleep of the dark night of the Underworld,” into a box (Morford et al. 381). Although warned not to open it, Psyche does which puts her into a deep slumber. Canova’s sculpture captures a moment of transition in the tale when Cupid rescues Psyche by putting the sleep back into the box and making her immortal to marry her.
Canova’s sculpture is most striking for its composition which strongly depicts this moment of transition. Strong diagonals emerge from Cupid’s wing splayed out and his left leg behind him. Additionally, a diagonal progression of elevation is seen from the bent, swept body of Psyche gazing up to meet a Cupid with wingtips fully extended outward. The composition fundamentally shows transcendence. Cupid the god cradles Psyche the mortal and pulls her upward. His wings point towards the heavens where he intends to take her, transfiguring her with his love.
At the same time, the elevation of the mortal to the immortal is not unbalanced, it’s not unnatural. Consider the figures’ arms—where Psyche’s arms reach and bend up onto Cupid’s head, his cradle downwards over her breasts and her head. Where Psyche looks up towards her lover, he looks down. Each figure gives the other space, balancing the sculpture and further depicting the passionate connection between love and soul.
Canova best depicts Plato’s description of love “in terms of a philosophical and spiritual journey” (Morford et al. 376) in his sculpture. While physical sensuality first attracted Cupid to Psyche, through the tribulations, sacrifices and ultimate transcendence of the soul, they achieved a true Platonic ideal. As a god, Eros represents the sensuality of this relationship. But I also see Psyche’s enormous sacrifice and strife through divine punishments to be with her lover, showing a mortal commitment. To me, Canova’s sculpture triumphs in his nuanced depiction of love as greater than physical, as transcendence, as effort and strife culminating in a deeper beauty.
Reed Hsiao Wong
In the 18th century, the additions of Antonio Canova’s sculpture Cupid and Psyche and Pompeo Batoni’s painting Diana and Cupid presented strikingly contrasting depictions of the Greek god, yet they simultaneously equally cemented the divine being as a symbol of desire, passion, and charm. The form and movement of the bodies portrayed, along with the power dynamic between subjects allowed for onlookers to develop vastly different ideas about the nature of the god only within the time frame of three decades between the two pieces, while still keeping a few key characteristics present. Ultimately, the differences and similarities between the two pieces represent the progression of popular visual arts from the Rococo movement to full-scale Neoclassicism in the mid-18th century.
The oil painting by renowned Italian painter Pompeo Batoni completed in 1761, Diana and Cupid, illustrates a playful, bright scene that highlights the relationship dynamics between Diana, goddess of the hunt, and a boyish version of Cupid. The Goddess of the Hunt and the God of Love are locked in perpetual struggle, as Cupid reaches up for the bow that Diana withholds from him, just out of reach. The lighthearted nature of the scene and the presence of the Goddess of the Hunt both work to establish the piece as a Rococo artwork, as it follows the idea of fête galante, a Rococo technique defined by a depiction of “aristocratic leisures, typically in the countryside” (Gorodetsky). Batoni’s painting keeps along the lines of fête galante, with the depiction of the laid-back, unothered Diana and the focal-point bow she holds conjuring ideas of leisurely hunting in viewers, with both Cupid and the hunting dog next to her watching in anticipation for her next move.
In contrast, the 1794 sculpture by Antonio Canova, Cupid and Psyche contrasts the Rococo oil painting with the subject of Cupid and his mortal lover, Psyche. In this interpretation of the god, the two tragic lovers begin their long-awaited embrace after Psyche has completed her final trial. In the textbook’s summary it is said, however, that this is not the end of Psyche’s trials as she must still complete her task of delivering the Persephone’s box to Venus and receive permission from Jupiter to be able to marry Cupid. However, it signals the change from the god’s rejection of Psyche to their acceptance once she completes her task (Morford et al. 214). In the sculpture, Psyche has just awoken from her near-death sleep and Cupid comforts her, as she holds her hands up towards his face. The two’s faces are almost close enough to make contact, and if viewed from the side they appear to make a circle, symbolizing the complete connection of love and the soul. The Cupid in this piece is portrayed as a young adult, as opposed to the boyish interpretation in Diana and Cupid.
But how are the two connected? To explain this, the movement after Rococo will have to be explained. Neoclassicism was an art movement that began in the latter half of the eighteenth century as new illustrations of archaeological sites around the European continent were being produced which prompted new interest in subjects of antiquity (The Metropolitan Museum of Art). Although the first piece discussed, Diana and Cupid contains qualities of a Rococo piece, the fundamental subjects of the piece, two of the Greek gods are from antiquity, which were not commonly the subjects of Rococo artworks. Additionally, Neoclassicist works such as Cupid and Psyche depict more serious and realistic scenes of mythological stories, contrasting Rococo. In this way, the two pieces show the development of popular art, as Diana and Cupid contain both aspects of Rococo with its lighthearted, playful scene and Neoclassicism, with the subject of godlike beings. On the other hand, Cupid and Psyche is full-on Neoclassicism, as the attitude the artist takes towards the subject matter is more solemn, and the subject is still of the gods. Both the pieces act as important artifacts of artistic history, cementing their roles as transitional pieces in the attitude that the public held towards art in the 18th century.
Works Cited
“Antonio Canova - Cupid and Psyche - Italian, Rome - The Metropolitan Museum of Art.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/188954. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.
Gontar, Cybele. “Neoclassicism.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1 Oct. 2003, www.metmuseum.org/essays/neoclassicism.
Gorodetsky, Tali. “Reveling in Rococo: An Exploration of an Ornate Era.” M.S. Rau, M.S. Rau, 5 Sept. 2024,
rauantiques.com/blogs/canvases-carats-and-curiosities/reveling-in-rococo-an-exploration-of-an-ornate-era.
Morford, Mark, et al. Classical Mythology. 12th ed., Oxford University Press, 2024.
“Pompeo Batoni - Diana and Cupid - the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435622. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.