Artwork Page for Cupid Secretly Drawing an Arrow

Details / Information for Cupid Secretly Drawing an Arrow

Cupid Secretly Drawing an Arrow

1807
(Belgian, 1750–1835)
Measurements
Overall: 22.8 cm (9 in.)
Public Domain
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Cupid traipses daintily on rose blossoms, ready to shoot his love-filled arrow at an unsuspecting victim.

Description

This clay model is a maquette for a sculpture in limestone more than three feet tall, entitled Cupid Disguised, Hiding Under a Veil. The motif is borrowed from the Marlborough cameo (an ancient Roman cameo now at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, inv. no. 99.101) that was a source of inspiration for neoclassical artists. The gem illustrates the wedding of Cupid and Psyche—shown as veiled children with protruding wings—from which Godecharle extracted the single figure of Cupid and, instead, depicted him in ambush.
A reddish-brown terracotta sculpture depicts a winged child standing with his right leg crossed over the left. He is enveloped in a voluminous, hooded cloak that shrouds his head and upper body, leaving his legs bare. His right hand reaches into the heavy fabric toward a hidden arrow. A single wing extends from his left shoulder. The figure stands on a rustic circular base, which rests atop a smooth, light gray cylindrical pedestal.

Cupid Secretly Drawing an Arrow

1807

Gilles-Lambert Godecharle

(Belgian, 1750–1835)
Belgium, Brussels

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