Cupid Chastised
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
175.3 × 130.6 cm (69 × 51 3/8 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
59847
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Cupid Chastised depicts a moment of high drama: Mars, the god of war, violently whips the young boy, Cupid, as punishment for embroiling the god in an affair with the boy’s mother, Venus, the goddess of love. Venus tries in vain to stop the beating. Surrounded by darkness, the three figures are boldly illuminated from the left, intensifying the composition’s dynamism and impact. The physicality of the figures conveys the violent discord of the scene: the crouching, wide-eyed Venus; the furious, mu...