LAGRENÉE, Louis-Jean-François
(b. 1724, Paris, d. 1805, Paris)

Cupid and Psyche

1767
Oil on canvas, 55 x 71cm
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

Venus sent her son Cupid to punish Psyche, whose beauty had been compared to her own. But Cupid and Psyche fell in love. To keep their love secret he wore a disguise on his nightly visits to her bedroom. Psyche's jealous sisters revealed his identity, and she was punished with a series of harsh trials. Finally Cupid and Psyche were reunited in eternal love.

The theme is taken from Apuleius's novel Metamorphoses (The Golden Ass).