Lot Essay
The story of Cupid and Psyche was celebrated in ancient mythology as an allegory representing the rapport between the human soul and divine love. The Romance of Cupid and Psyche was published in the 2nd Century by Apuleius, a priest of Isis, in The Golden Ass, and by Jean de la Fontaine as Les Amours de Psyché, 1699.
Psyche's beauty aroused Venus's jealousy. Cupid was instructed by the goddess to cause the maiden to fall in love with a monster, but instead he married her himself. Psyche, mislead by her jealous sisters into believing she has actually married a monster, attempted to kill Cupid. Psyche was banished from Love's enchanted castle and sought Venus's help. Having accomplished various tasks for the goggess, she was allowed to be reunited with Cupid.
The scenic panorama, inspired by La Fontaine's Amours de Psyché, was originally commissioned by Dufour in 1785 from the firm of Mader père. It was executed en grisaille, like a bas-relief, after cartoons by Louis Lafitte (d. 1828) and Mery-Joseph Blondel (d. 1853), but was not published until 1814 by Messrs. Dufour et Cie. At the 'Fifth Public Exhibition of Products of French Industry' 1819, it achieved a silver medal for Dufour. Its twelve tableaux continued to be reissued from the original plates in 1872, 1889, 1905, 1923 and 1931, that of 1923 being published by La Societé Anonyme Desfossé & Karth. The plates were destroyed in the Second World War.
Psyche's beauty aroused Venus's jealousy. Cupid was instructed by the goddess to cause the maiden to fall in love with a monster, but instead he married her himself. Psyche, mislead by her jealous sisters into believing she has actually married a monster, attempted to kill Cupid. Psyche was banished from Love's enchanted castle and sought Venus's help. Having accomplished various tasks for the goggess, she was allowed to be reunited with Cupid.
The scenic panorama, inspired by La Fontaine's Amours de Psyché, was originally commissioned by Dufour in 1785 from the firm of Mader père. It was executed en grisaille, like a bas-relief, after cartoons by Louis Lafitte (d. 1828) and Mery-Joseph Blondel (d. 1853), but was not published until 1814 by Messrs. Dufour et Cie. At the 'Fifth Public Exhibition of Products of French Industry' 1819, it achieved a silver medal for Dufour. Its twelve tableaux continued to be reissued from the original plates in 1872, 1889, 1905, 1923 and 1931, that of 1923 being published by La Societé Anonyme Desfossé & Karth. The plates were destroyed in the Second World War.