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Lot Essay
The subject of this painting is based on the text by Lucius Apulcius (2nd century A.D.) in the Metamorphoses (Books 4-6), and tells the story of Psyche, a maiden so beautiful that she aroused the envy of Venus. To torment her, Venus sent Cupid to Psyche to win her love, then abandon her, but instead Cupid fell in love with the maiden himself. He brought Psyche to his palace, but only visited her after dark. Eager to see her lover, Psyche took an oil lamp and gazed upon Cupid while he slept. A drip from the lamp oil spilt onto the sleeping god, who awoke and angrily left her. In an effort to win him back, Psyche submitted to various tasks set by Venus. These included fetching a casket from Proserpine in Hades, which she disobediently opened, condemning herself to endless sleep. Psyche was eventually rescued by Jupiter, was carried up to heaven by Mercury, reunited with Cupid, and married at a festive banquet. Renaissance humanists treated the story as a philosophical allegory of the search by the Soul (Psyche) for union with Desire (Cupid), the outcome of which is Pleasure (their offspring).
Antonio Bellucci first studied painting in Dalmatia (at that time a Venetian colony), but by around 1675 he was in Venice. His early works show the influence of the Venetian artists Pietro Liberi, Andrea Celesti and Antonio Zanchi, all of whom specialized in 'historic' decoration and who sought to revive the glorious palette and sensuality of Venetian sixteenth-century painting.
Bellucci was an international artist, and in 1692 he journeyed to Austria where he executed some altarpieces for the Church of Klosternenburg. From 1695 to 1700 he lived in Vienna; he was back in Venice in 1700 and returned to Vienna in 1702. During his sojourn there he decorated the grandiose ceilings of the Palais Liechtenstein, and his paintings are reminiscent of the Bolognese decorative styles of Carlo Cignani and Benedetto Luti (to whom the present painting was previously attributed). He is recorded again in Venice in 1704, and in 1705 he travelled to Düsseldorf to work for Johann Wilhelm, Elector of the Palatinate, painting there almost continuously until his patron's death in 1716. Bellucci was named Court Painter to the Emperor Joseph I and executed canvases for the Princes of Schönborn at Pommersfelden. From 1716 to 1722 Bellucci was in England where he worked for the first Duke of Chandos, and he painted ceilings for Buckingham House and Burlington House. In 1722 he returned to Venice, where he spent the remainder of his life.
Bellucci is one of the best Venetian representatives of the transition from the Venetian late Baroque to the lighter style of the eighteenth century, while at the same time his work is characterized by a revival of the luminous coloring of the age of Paolo Veronese and Titian. His work was particularly important in the development of the Venetian Rococo and an inspiration to the most important artists of this new era, Antonio Balestra and Sebastiano Ricci. The present painting is datable to the first quarter of the eighteenth century by comparison with another very similar treatment of the theme of Cupid and Psyche by Bellucci now in the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich (inv. no. 915), executed during the same period.
Antonio Bellucci first studied painting in Dalmatia (at that time a Venetian colony), but by around 1675 he was in Venice. His early works show the influence of the Venetian artists Pietro Liberi, Andrea Celesti and Antonio Zanchi, all of whom specialized in 'historic' decoration and who sought to revive the glorious palette and sensuality of Venetian sixteenth-century painting.
Bellucci was an international artist, and in 1692 he journeyed to Austria where he executed some altarpieces for the Church of Klosternenburg. From 1695 to 1700 he lived in Vienna; he was back in Venice in 1700 and returned to Vienna in 1702. During his sojourn there he decorated the grandiose ceilings of the Palais Liechtenstein, and his paintings are reminiscent of the Bolognese decorative styles of Carlo Cignani and Benedetto Luti (to whom the present painting was previously attributed). He is recorded again in Venice in 1704, and in 1705 he travelled to Düsseldorf to work for Johann Wilhelm, Elector of the Palatinate, painting there almost continuously until his patron's death in 1716. Bellucci was named Court Painter to the Emperor Joseph I and executed canvases for the Princes of Schönborn at Pommersfelden. From 1716 to 1722 Bellucci was in England where he worked for the first Duke of Chandos, and he painted ceilings for Buckingham House and Burlington House. In 1722 he returned to Venice, where he spent the remainder of his life.
Bellucci is one of the best Venetian representatives of the transition from the Venetian late Baroque to the lighter style of the eighteenth century, while at the same time his work is characterized by a revival of the luminous coloring of the age of Paolo Veronese and Titian. His work was particularly important in the development of the Venetian Rococo and an inspiration to the most important artists of this new era, Antonio Balestra and Sebastiano Ricci. The present painting is datable to the first quarter of the eighteenth century by comparison with another very similar treatment of the theme of Cupid and Psyche by Bellucci now in the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich (inv. no. 915), executed during the same period.