Bringing marble to life
The Louvre’s Masterpieces
Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss
Antonio Canova
When you enter the Michelangelo gallery, the work of another Italian sculptor might be the first to catch your eye… Cupid can be hard to resist! Antonio Canova specialised in delicate marble depictions of mythological episodes; it’s easy to see why he was so admired by the Romantic poets of the late 19th century! Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss instantly conveys a sense of the feeling of love. Rather than just copying a classical model, Canova took an almost choreographic approach to the composition of his sculpture, choosing the compelling moment when the goddess awakens – a moment captured in a masterpiece that has lost none of its power to move us.
A different view of the duo
At the Musée du Louvre-Lens, another version of Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss shows the lovers younger, at the start of their tumultuous love affair… In this work, Canova chose to depict them standing – the challenge being to achieve a sense of movement and life. If you walk around this sculpture to see it from the back, you’ll see the young lovers make a very different – and far more modern – impression!