Unchanged by any teller — how the centuries since have seen Eros.
The gallery
Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss
Antonio Canova, 1787–1793
A Neoclassical marble group by Antonio Canova capturing the moment from Apuleius's tale when Cupid revives the lifeless Psyche with a kiss, his wings rising above their embrace. The tender interlocking of the two figures made it one of the most celebrated sculptures of its age. It is now in the Louvre in Paris.
The Farnese Eros
Roman copy after a Greek original, 2nd century AD
A Roman marble copy of the second century AD after a lost Greek original of the fourth century BC attributed to Praxiteles. It presents the love god not as a mischievous child but as a graceful, contemplative youth. Part of the Farnese collection, it is now in the National Archaeological Museum, Naples.
Amor Vincit Omnia
Caravaggio, 1601–1602
An oil painting of a grinning adolescent Cupid trampling the emblems of music, science, warfare and statecraft, illustrating Virgil's line 'love conquers all.' Caravaggio's provocative realism made the picture famous in his own lifetime. It hangs in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.