Cupid and Psyche

ca. between 1710 and 1720

Giovanni Battista Foggini Italian, 1652-1725

On View

European: Grand Tour of Italy-Florence, Level 2, South Wing

Cupid and Psyche: 1 of Collection Gallery

Cupid and Psyche: 2 of Collection Gallery

Cupid and Psyche: 3 of Collection Gallery

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Provenance

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

The story of Cupid and Psyche first appeared in the Metamorphoses written by the Roman author Apuleius in the second century. This bronze depicts the dramatic moment when Psyche, encouraged by her jealous sisters, holds an oil lamp over the waking Cupid and discovers his true identity. Foggini, the official sculptor and architect of the Medici court, interpreted the scene in a high baroque style, characterized by dynamic rhythms and theatrical gestures.

Title Cupid and Psyche

Artwork Date ca. between 1710 and 1720

Artist Giovanni Battista Foggini

Life Dates 1652-1725

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Italian

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Bronze with brown patina and red-gold lacquer

Dimensions Overall: 13 3/8 × 14 5/8 × 9 1/4 inches (34 × 37.1 × 23.5 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department European Sculpture and Dec Arts

Credit Founders Society Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 81.695

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

(Cyril Humphris Gallery, London, England)

May 27, 1980, sold by (Sotheby Parke Bernet, Monaco) no. 1158

1981, (Daniel Katz, London, England)

1981-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Provenance page

Exhibition History

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Published References

Montagu, J. "Massimiliano Soldani's Venus Plucking the Wings of Cupid." National Gallery of Canada Bulletin, no. 24 (1974): pp. 22-35, p. 33, fig. 8 (ill.).

Sales cat., Sotheby Parke Bernet. Monaco, May 27, 1980, no. 1158.

Bulletin of the DIA 60, nos. 1 and 2 (1981-1982): p. 7 (ill.).

Lankeit, K. Die Modellsammlung der Porzellanmanufactur Doccia. Munich, 1982, p. 121, no. 17 (fig. 124).

Darr, A.P. "Florentine Baroque Bronzes by Susini, Soldani, and Foggini." Bulletin of the DIA 61, nos. 1-2 (Summer 1983): pp. 4-17, fig. 12 (ill.).

Masterpieces from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Exh. cat.,Bunkamura Museum of Art. Tokyo, 1989, cat. no. 18 (ill.).

Darr, A. The Figure Revisited: Early Doccia Porcelain Sculptures in Detroit and its Development in 18th-Century Italy, in The International Ceramics Fair and Seminar. London, June 1994, p. 9.

Darr, A.P., P. Barnet, A. Bostrom, C. Avery, et al. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Detroit Institute of Arts. London, 2002, 2 vols., II, cat. 150.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Giovanni Battista Foggini, Cupid and Psyche, ca. between 1710 and 1720, bronze with brown patina and red-gold lacquer. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund, 81.695.