Cupid and Psyche

Among the classical marbles that belonged to the Medici collection, the group of Cupid and Psyche
is certainly one of the most renowned and significant. Its importance is due, first of all, to its
provenance: the sculpture was found in 1666 on the Caelian Hill in Rome, not far from the church
of Santo Stefano Rotondo (St. Stephen in the Round), where during the Imperial period some of
the richest and grandest aristocratic residences were to be found, such as the famous house of the
Valerii family.
The marble group, therefore, must have been part of the statuary corpus of a sumptuous antique
villa; an exceptional setting, also proven by the high quality of execution. The beauty of the marble
was immediately manifest also to the 17th-century discoverers, who turned to the most famous
sculptor of the time in Rome to integrate the missing parts (the base, part of Cupid’s legs, as well
as Psyche’s feet and right wing): Giacomo Antonio Fancelli, a close collaborator of Bernini.
The recomposed sculpture was purchased by Cosimo III and taken to Florence to be immediately
placed in the Gallery. At least since the end of the 17th century, the small marble group has been
exhibited in the second corridor of the Vasari complex, where it does not fail to attract the
attention of all visitors. Its fame, however, has very ancient origins. The veneration of 18th-
century travelers on the Grand Tour for this sculpture is unequivocally shown by the celebrated
canvas by Johann Zoffany, depicting the treasures of the Tribuna. Although Cupid and Psyche were
actually never displayed within this elitist room, the German painter portrays them alongside the
most emblematic examples of the Medici’s classical sculpture: the Venus, the Wrestles, the Knife
Grinder and the Dancing Faun.
The wealth of copies of this small sculptural group from the Uffizi, made since the beginning of the
18th century and now to be found from Versailles to Petrodvorec, bear witness to its becoming at
the time a true icon of spiritual love in European culture. Its renown is after all fully deserved. In
fact, the sculpture is to be reckoned among the most sensitive and delicate Imperial-age
interpretations come to us of a late Hellenistic prototype. The model is artfully differentiated in
the arrangements of the heads, not so close as in the archetype, but slightly apart to create a
subtle and tender dialogue of gazes between the two lovers.