Cupid Chastised
Bartolomeo Manfredi
1613
Following
the
example
of
the
revolutionary
early
seventeenth-century
artist
Michelangelo
Merisi
da
Caravaggio,
Bartolomeo
Manfredi
chose
to
depict
ordinary
individuals
in
his
scenes
from
the
Bible
and
Greek
and
Roman
mythology.
Caravaggio
had
demonstrated
to
Manfredi
and
an
entire
generation
of
European
artists
that
such
lofty
themes
could
be
transformed
into
events
experienced
by
ordinary
people.
Employing
dramatic
lighting
and
locating
the
action
directly
before
the
viewer,
these
artists
were
able
to
endow
their
narratives
with
great
immediacy
and
power.
Cupid
Chastised
depicts
a
moment
of
high
drama:
Mars,
the
god
of
war,
beats
Cupid
for
having
caused
his
affair
with
Venus,
the
goddess
of
love,
which
exposed
him
to
the
derision
and
outrage
of
the
other
gods.
Venus
implores
him
in
vain
to
desist.
Surrounded
by
darkness,
the
three
figures
are
boldly
illuminated
from
the
left,
intensifying
the
dynamism
and
impact
of
the
composition.
The
sheer
physicality
of
the
figures
—
the
crouching
Venus,
whose
broadly
realized
face
strays
from
the
classical
ideal;
the
powerful
Mars,
whose
musculature
and
brilliant
red
drapery
seem
to
pulsate
with
fury;
and
Cupid,
whose
naked
flesh
and
recumbent
position
render
him
particularly
vulnerable—conveys
the
violent
discord
of
the
scene.
On
one
level
a
tale
of
domestic
disturbance,
the
story
also
symbolizes
the
eternal
conflict
between
love
and
war.
| Title | Cupid Chastised |
|---|---|
| Artist | Bartolomeo Manfredi |
| Date | 1613 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Style | Renaissance |
| Dimensions | 175.3 × 130.6 cm (69 × 51 3/8 in.) |