Cupid and Psyche

The story of Cupid and Psyche derives from Apuleius’ The Golden Ass, the only Ancient Roman novel to survive in its entirety. This picture represents a late moment in the story when Psyche, having lost the love of her husband Cupid, is given three labours by his mother, the goddess Venus. The third of these is to descend into the Underworld and bring back a box filled with the beauty of Proserpina, Queen of the Underworld. Having obtained the prize, Psyche returns to the light of day and is overcome with curiosity. Upon opening the box, she finds nothing inside except a deadly Stygian sleep. Hoppner depicts the moment when Cupid discovers Psyche in a coma and draws the sleep out of her face, returning it to the box. Hoppner produced only a small number of mythological works and these were largely executed in the period following his marriage to Phoebe Wright in 1781 and the withdrawal of his royal allowance. McKay and Roberts (loc. cit.) date the work to 1785 and praise ‘its wonderful flesh tints, on which [Hoppner] scarcely improved’.