Psyche Exposed on a Rock c.1695-7
Oil on copper | 57.2 x 68.3 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 402960
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This painting is the third in a set of twelve in the Royal Collection depicting part of the story of Cupid and Psyche. The subject of this series comes from The Metamorphoses or Golden Ass by the second-century AD writer Apuleius: it is one of the stories that intersperse the main narrative of Lucius on his travels (Book IV, para. 28 - Book VI, para. 24). The tale of the many travails endured by ill-matched lovers (one mortal and one divine) before their final happy marriage, it was interpreted in the Renaissance as a Neoplatonic allegory of the progress of the soul (Psyche means 'soul' in Greek) towards salvation through Divine Love. The outcome of their union is Pleasure.
The third of Giordano's paintings shows Psyche lying on the rock at upper right; her empty bridal chair is carried away in the foreground by the lamenting people, led by her parents. In the centre of the sky Psyche is borne away by Zephyrus. She is wafted down to 'this soft grassy spot' where wakes to find a grove of lofty trees, a spring of clear water and a palace built by 'arts divine'.
Inscribed in pencil on back of copper: J Meijers
Catalogue entry adapted from The Art of Italy in the Royal Collection: Renaissance and Baroque, London, 2007Provenance
Probably commissioned by Carlos II of Spain or his mother; acquired by George IIII and recorded as a set of 12 in the Bedchamber at Buckingham House in 1790
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Medium and techniques
Oil on copper
Measurements
57.2 x 68.3 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
75.1 x 87.2 x 5.5 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)