Cupid (Michelangelo)
The Cupid was a sculpture created by Renaissance artist Michelangelo in 1496, which he artificially aged to make it look like an antique from the advice of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco. It was this sculpture which first brought him to the attention of patrons in Rome. The work is now lost.[7]
Sleeping Cupid
In 1496, Michelangelo made a sleeping Cupid figure and treated it with acidic earth to make it seem ancient. He then sold it to a dealer, Baldassare del Milanese, who in turn sold it to Cardinal Riario of San Giorgio who later learned of the fraud and demanded his money back. However, Michelangelo was permitted to keep his share of the money.[8][9] When Michelangelo offered to take the sculpture back from Baldassarre, the latter refused, saying he would rather destroy it.[10]
The Cupid was a significant work in establishing the reputation of the young Michelangelo, who was about 20 years old at the time.[11] The sculpture was later donated by Cesare Borgia to Isabella d'Este, and was probably collected by Charles I of England when all the Gonzaga collections were bought and taken to London in the seventeenth century.[8]
In 1698, the Cupid was probably destroyed in the great fire in the Palace of Whitehall, London.[8]
Standing Cupid
Another sculpture of Cupid, in a standing position, was created for Riario's banker, Jacopo Galli.[12]
References
- ↑ Dorothy Johnson, David to Delacroix: The Rise of Romantic Mythology (University of North Carolina Press, 2011), pp. 81–87.
- ↑ Max Nelson, "Narcissus: Myth and Magic," Classical Journal 95.4 (2000), p. 364, citing S. Lancel, "Curiositas et préoccupations spirituelles chez Apulée," Revue de l'histoire des religions 160 (1961), pp. 41–45.
- ↑ Manuscript Vat. Lat. 2194, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.
- ↑ As described by a contemporary reviewer of the new work, quoted by Philippe Bordes, Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile (Yale University Press, 2005), p. 234.
- ↑ Bordes, Jacques-Louis David, p. 232.
- ↑ "Sarcophagus panel: Cupid and Psyche", Indianapolis Museum of Art description. The sarcophagus was made for retail, and the portrait added later.
- ↑ Entry on "Cupid," The Classical Tradition (Harvard University Press, 2010), p. 245; Stefania Macioe, "Caravaggio and the Role of Classical Models," in The Rediscovery of Antiquity: The Role of the Artist (Collegium Hyperboreum, 2003), pp. 437–438.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Sheila Gibson Stoodley (August 2008). "Misadventures in Collecting". Arts and Antiques.
- ↑ "Michelangelo's Cupid". Museum of Hoaxes. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
- ↑ Rona Goffen (2004). Renaissance rivals: Michelangelo, Leonardo, Rafael, Titian. Yale University Press. p. 409, note 83.
- ↑ Deborah Parker, Michelangelo and the Art of Letter Writing (Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 11; Rona Goffen, Renaissance Rivals: Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Titian (Yale University Press, 2002, 2004), p. 95.
- ↑ Umberto Baldini, Michelangelo scultore, Rizzoli, Milano 1973, pp. 90-91.
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