Study for the Abduction of Psyche

This is a study for the painting exhibited at the 1895 Paris Salon under the tile Le Ravissement de Psyché (no. 258), now in an American private collection (D. Bartoli and F. Ross, William Bouguereau. Catalogue Raisonné of his Painted Work, Paris, 2010, II, no. 1895/03, ill.). The drawing differs in certain respects, in particular in the positioning of the figures: in the painting, Psyche has her arms crossed over her chest, while her head is against Cupid’s neck. Bouguereau was probably inspired by illustrations by Jean-Michel Moreau (1741-1814) for Jean de La Fontaine’s Les Amours de Psyché et Cupidon. The composition is also close to that of his own L’Amour et Psyché, a painting exhibited at the 1899 Salon, no. 260 (previously at the sale Sotheby’s, New York, 23 April 2010, lot 63; see Bartoli and Ross, op. cit., II, no. 1899/02, ill.; for a related study see also the preceding lot).