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==== The Wedding of Cupid and Psyche ====

[[File:Raffaello, banchetto nuziale 02.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|The Wedding Banquet of Cupid and Psyche (1517) by Raphael and his workshop, from the Loggia di Psiche, Villa Farnesina]]
The assembly of the gods has been a popular scenario for both visual and performing arts, with the wedding banquet of Cupid and Psyche a particularly rich occasion. Apuleius describes the scene in terms of a festive Roman dinner party ([[cena]]). Cupid, now a husband, reclines in the place of honor (the [[triclinium|"top" couch]]) and embraces Psyche in his lap. Jupiter and [[Juno (mythology)|]] situate themselves likewise, and all the other gods are arranged in order. The cupbearer of Jove (Jupiter's other name) serves him with nectar, the "wine of the gods"; Apuleius refers to the cupbearer only as ille rusticus puer, "that country boy," and not as [[Ganymede (mythology)|]]. [[Liber]], the Roman god of wine, serves the rest of the company. [[Volcanus|Vulcan]], the god of fire, cooks the food; the [[Horae]] ("Seasons" or "Hours") adorn, or more literally "empurple," everything with roses and other flowers; the [[Gratiae|Graces]] suffuse the setting with the scent of , and the [[Muses]] with melodic singing. Apollo sings to his [[cithara|lyre]], and Venus takes the starring role in dancing at the wedding, with the Muses as her chorus girls, a [[satyr]] blowing the [[aulos]] (tibia in Latin), and a young [[...|Pan]] expressing himself through the [[Pan flute|pan pipes]] (fistula).14 lines hidden (3075 characters)
The tale thus lent itself to adaptation in a Christian or [[Mysticism|mystical]] context. In the [[Gnostic]] text [[On the Origin of the World]], the first rose is created from the blood of Psyche when she loses her virginity to Cupid.^ref To the Christian mythographer [[...|Fulgentius]] (6th century), Psyche was an [[Adam]] figure, driven by sinful curiosity and lust from the paradise of Love's domain.^ref Psyche's sisters are Flesh and Free Will, and her parents are God and Matter.^ref To [[Boccaccio]] (14th century), the marriage of Cupid and Psyche symbolized the union of soul and God.^ref

== Classical tradition ==

Apuleius's novel was among the ancient texts that made the crucial transition from  to [[codex]] form when it was edited at the end of the late 4th century. It was known to Latin writers such as [[Augustine of Hippo]], [[Macrobius]], [[Sidonius Apollinaris]], Martianus Capella, and Fulgentius, but toward the end of the 6th century lapsed into obscurity and survived what was formerly known as the "[[Dark Ages (historiography)|]]" through perhaps a single [[manuscript]].^ref The Metamorphoses remained unknown in the 13th century,^ref but copies had begun to circulate in the mid-1300s among the [[Italian humanism|early humanists]] in [[Renaissance Florence|Florence]].^ref Boccaccio's text and interpretation of Cupid and Psyche in his [[Genealogia deorum gentilium]] (written in the 1370s and published 1472) was a major impetus to the reception of the tale in the [[Italian Renaissance]] and to its dissemination throughout Europe.^ref29 lines hidden (7232 characters)
[[Thomas Bulfinch]] wrote a shorter adaptation of the Cupid and Psyche tale for his Age of Fable, borrowing Tighe's invention of Cupid's self-wounding, which did not appear in the original. [[Josephine Preston Peabody]] wrote a version for children in her Old Greek Folk Stories Told Anew (1897).

=== Performing arts ===

In 1634, [[Thomas Heywood]] turned the tale of Cupid and Psyche into a [[masque]] for the court of [[Charles I of England|Charles I]].^ref  's [[Psyché (opera)|]] (1678) is a Baroque [[French opera]] (a "[[tragédie lyrique]]") based on [[Psyché (play)|the 1671 play]] by [[Molière]], which had musical [[intermède]]s by Lully. [[Matthew Locke (composer)|]]'s [[semi-opera]] [[Psyche (Locke)|]] (1675) is a loose reworking from the 1671 production. In 1800, [[Ludwig Abeille]] premièred his four-act German opera ([[singspiel]]) [[Amor und Psyche]], with a [[libretto]] by [[Franz Carl Hiemer]] based on Apuleius.

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[[File:Image-François Pascal Simon Gérard 006.jpg|thumb|''Psyche and Amor'', also known as ''Psyche Receiving Cupid's First Kiss'' (1798), by [[François Gérard]]: a symbolic butterfly hovers over Psyche in a moment of innocence poised before sexual awakening<ref>Dorothy Johnson, ''David to Delacroix: The Rise of Romantic Mythology'' (University of North Carolina Press, 2011), pp. 81–87.</ref>]]
'''''Cupid and Psyche''''' is a story from the [[Latin literature|Latin novel]] ''Metamorphoses'', also known as ''[[The Golden Ass]]'', written in the 2nd century AD by [[Apuleius]]. It concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psyche ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|aɪ|k|iː}}, {{Lang-el|Ψυχή}}, "Soul" or "Breath of Life") and [[Cupid]] (Latin ''Cupido,'' "Desire") or Amor ("Love", Greek [[Eros]]), and their ultimate union in marriage. Although the only extended narrative from [[classical antiquity|antiquity]] is that of Apuleius, Eros and Psyche appear in [[ancient Greek art|Greek art]] as early as the 4th century BC. The story's [[Neoplatonic]] elements and allusions to [[mystery religions]] accommodate multiple interpretations,<ref>Stephen Harrison, entry on "Cupid," ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome'' (Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 338.</ref> and it has been analyzed as an [[allegory]] and in light of [[folklore|folktale]], [[Fairy tale#Terminology|Märchen]] or [[fairy tale]], and [[myth]].<ref>[[Hendrik Wagenvoort]], "Cupid and Psyche," reprinted in ''Pietas: Selected Studies in Roman Religion'' (Brill, 1980), pp. 84–92 [http://books.google.com/books?id=xWaOxU28Nn4C&pg=PA84&dq=%22Cupid+and+Psyche%22+inauthor:Wagenvoort&lr=&as_brr=0 online.]</ref>

Since the rediscovery of Apuleius's novel in the [[Renaissance]], the [[reception theory|reception]] of ''Cupid and Psyche'' in the [[classical tradition]] has been extensive. The story has been retold in poetry, drama, and opera, and depicted widely in painting, sculpture, and even wallpaper.<ref>Harrison, "Cupid and Psyche," in ''Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome'', p. 339.</ref>

==In Apuleius==
The tale of Cupid and Psyche is placed at the midpoint of Apuleius's novel, and occupies about a fifth of its total length.<ref>Harrison, "Cupid and Psyche," ''Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome,'' p. 338.</ref> The novel itself is a [[first-person narrative]] by the [[protagonist]] Lucius. Transformed into a donkey by [[Magic in the Greco-Roman world|magic]] gone wrong, Lucius undergoes various trials and adventures, and finally regains human form by eating roses sacred to [[Isis]]. Psyche's story has some similarities, including the theme of dangerous curiosity, punishments and tests, and redemption through divine favor.<ref>Entry on "Apuleius," in  ''The Classical Tradition'' (Harvard University Press, 2010), pp. 56–57.</ref> As a structural mirror of the overarching plot, the tale is an example of ''[[mise en abyme]]''. It occurs within a complex narrative frame, with Lucius recounting the tale as it in turn was told by an old woman to Charite, a bride kidnapped by pirates on her wedding day and held captive in a cave.<ref>Harrison, "Cupid and Psyche," ''Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome,'' p. 338.</ref> The happy ending for Psyche is supposed to assuage Charite's fear of rape, in one of several instances of Apuleius's [[irony]].<ref>E.J. Kenney, ''Apuleius: Cupid and Psyche'' (Cambridge University Press, 1990), pp. 22–23; Sophia Papaioannou, "Charite's Rape, Psyche on the Rock and the Parallel Function of Marriage in Apuleius' ''Metamorphoses''," ''Mnemosyne'' 51.3 (1998) 302–324.</ref>

Although the tale resists explication as a strict [[allegory]] of a particular Platonic argument, Apuleius drew generally on imagery such as the laborious ascent of the winged soul (''[[Phaedrus (dialogue)|Phaedrus]]'' 248) and the union with the divine achieved by Soul through the agency of the ''[[daimon]]'' Love (''[[Symposium (Plato)|Symposium]]'' 212b).<ref>Jane Kingsley-Smith, ''Cupid in Early Modern Literature and Culture'' (Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 164.</ref>

===The story===
[[File:Luca Giordano - Psyche Honoured by the People - WGA09015.jpg|thumb|''Psyche Honoured by the People'' (1692–1702) from a series of 12 scenes from the story by [[Luca Giordano]]]]
There was once a king and queen,<ref>The following summary is condensed from the translation of Kenney (Cambridge University Press, 1990), and the revised translation of W. Adlington by S. Gaseless for [[Loeb Classical Library]] (Harvard University Press, 1915), with reference to the accompanying Latin text.</ref> rulers of an unnamed city, who had three daughters of conspicuous beauty. The youngest and most beautiful was Psyche, whose admirers went so far as to neglect the proper worship of the [[love goddess]] [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] and instead prayed and made offerings to her. It was rumored that she was the second coming of Venus, or the daughter of Venus from an unseemly union of the goddess and a mortal. Venus is offended, and commissions Cupid to work her revenge. Cupid, however, falls in love with the girl and desires to possess her for himself.

Although her two humanly beautiful sisters have married, the idolized Psyche has yet to find love. Her father suspects that they have incurred the wrath of the gods, and consults the [[oracle]] of [[Apollo]]. The response is unsettling: the king is to expect no human son-in-law, but rather a dragon-like creature who harasses the world with fire and iron and is feared by even [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] and the inhabitants of the underworld.

[[File:Edward Burne-Jones001.jpg|thumb|left|''Psyche's Wedding'' ([[Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood|Pre-Raphaelite]], 1895) by [[Edward Burne-Jones]]]]
Psyche is arrayed in funeral attire, conveyed by a procession to the peak of a rocky crag, and exposed. Marriage and death are merged into a single rite of passage, a "transition to the unknown".<ref>Papaioannou, "Charite's Rape, Psyche on the Rock," p. 319.</ref> [[Zephyrus|Zephyr]] the West Wind bears her up to meet her fated match, and deposits her in a lovely meadow ''([[locus amoenus]])'', where she promptly falls asleep.

The transported girl awakes to find herself at the edge of a cultivated grove ''([[lucus]])''. Exploring, she finds a marvelous house with golden columns, a carved ceiling of citrus wood and ivory, silver walls embossed with wild and domesticated animals, and jeweled mosaic floors. A disembodied voice tells her to make herself comfortable, and she is entertained at a feast that serves itself and by singing to an invisible lyre.
[[File:Pierre-Paul Prud'hon 003.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|''Psyche Lifted Up by Zephyrs'' ([[Romanticism|Romantic]], ca. 1800) by [[Pierre-Paul Prud'hon]]]]

Although fearful and without sexual experience, she allows herself to be guided to a bedroom, where in the darkness a man she cannot see makes her his wife. She gradually learns to look forward to his visits, though he always departs before sunrise and forbids her to look upon him, and soon she becomes pregnant.

====Violation of trust====
Psyche's family longs for news of her, and after much cajoling, Cupid, still unknown to his bride, permits Zephyr to carry her sisters up for a visit. When they see the splendor in which Psyche lives, they become envious, and undermine her happiness by prodding her to uncover her husband's true identity, since surely as foretold by the oracle she was lying with the vile winged serpent, who would devour her and her child.

[[File:Tapete KGM W-1982-59.jpg|thumb|left|''Psyche Showing Her Jewelry to Her Sisters'' ([[Neoclassicism|Neoclassical]], 1815–16), [[grisaille]] [[wallpaper]] by [[Merry-Joseph Blondel]]]]
One night after Cupid falls asleep, Psyche carries out the plan her sisters devised: she brings out a dagger and a lamp she had hidden in the room, in order to see and kill the monster. But when the light instead reveals the most beautiful creature she has ever seen, she is so startled that she wounds herself on one of the arrows in Cupid's cast-aside quiver. Struck with a feverish passion, she spills hot oil from the lamp and wakes him. He flees, and though she tries to pursue, he flies away and leaves her on the bank of a river.

There she is discovered by the wilderness god [[Pan (mythology)|Pan]], who recognizes the signs of passion upon her. She acknowledges his divinity ''([[numen]])'', then begins to wander the earth looking for her lost love.

[[File:Giuseppe Maria Crespi - Amore e Psiche - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''Amore e Psiche'' (1707–09) by [[Giuseppe Crespi]]: Psyche's use of the lamp to see the god is sometimes thought to reflect the magical practice of [[lychnomancy]], a form of divination or spirit conjuring<ref>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.</ref>]]

Psyche visits first one sister, then the other; both are seized with renewed envy upon learning the identity of Psyche's secret husband. Each sister attempts to offer herself as a replacement by climbing the rocky crag and casting herself upon Zephyr for conveyance, but instead is allowed to fall to a brutal death.

====Wanderings and trials====
In the course of her wanderings, Psyche comes upon a temple of [[Ceres (mythology)|Ceres]], and inside finds a disorder of grain offerings, garlands, and agricultural implements. Recognizing that the proper cultivation of the gods should not be neglected, she puts everything in good order, prompting a [[theophany]] of Ceres herself. Although Psyche prays for her aid, and Ceres acknowledges that she deserves it, the goddess is prohibited from helping her against a fellow goddess. A similar incident occurs at a temple of [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]]. Psyche realizes that she must serve Venus herself.

Venus revels in having the girl under her power, and turns Psyche over to her two handmaids, Worry and Sadness, to be whipped and tortured. Venus tears her clothes and bashes her head into the ground, and mocks her for conceiving a child in a sham marriage. The goddess then throws before her a great mass of mixed wheat, barley, poppyseed, chickpeas, lentils, and beans, demanding that she sort them into separate heaps by dawn. But when Venus withdraws to attend a wedding feast, a kind ant takes pity on Psyche, and assembles a fleet of insects to accomplish the task. Venus is furious when she returns drunk from the feast, and only tosses Psyche a crust of bread. At this point in the story, it is revealed that Cupid is also in the house of Venus, languishing from his injury.

[[File:Giulio Romano - Psyche's Second Task (River Deity) - WGA09570.jpg|thumb|left|''Psyche's Second Task'' ([[Mannerism|Mannerist]], 1526–28) by [[Giulio Romano]], from the [[Palazzo del Tè]]]]
At dawn, Venus sets a second task for Psyche. She is to cross a river and fetch golden wool from violent sheep who graze on the other side. These sheep are elsewhere identified as belonging to the [[Sol (mythology)|Sun]].<ref>By the 6th-century mythographer [[Fabius Planciades Fulgentius|Fulgentius]]; Joel C. Relihan, ''Apuleius: The Tale of Cupid and Psyche'' (Hackett, 2009), p. 65.</ref> Psyche's only intention is to drown herself on the way, but instead she is saved by instructions from a divinely inspired reed, of the type used to make musical instruments, and gathers the wool caught on briers.

For Psyche's third task, she is given a crystal vessel in which to collect the black water spewed by the source of the rivers [[Styx]] and [[Cocytus]]. Climbing the cliff from which it issues, she is daunted by the foreboding air of the place and dragons slithering through the rocks, and falls into despair. [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] himself takes pity on her, and sends his eagle to battle the dragons and retrieve the water for her.

====Psyche and the underworld====
The last trial Venus imposes on Psyche is a [[Descent to the underworld|quest to the underworld]] itself. She is to take a box ''([[Pyxis (vessel)|pyxis]])'' and obtain in it a dose of the beauty of [[Proserpina]], queen of the underworld. Venus claims her own beauty has faded through tending her ailing son, and she needs this remedy in order to attend the theatre of the gods ''(theatrum deorum)''.

[[File:Psyche aux enfers.jpg|thumb|''Psyché aux enfers'' (1865) by [[Eugène-Ernest Hillemacher]]: [[Charon (mythology)|Charon]] rows Psyche past a dead man in the water and the old weavers on shore]]
Once again despairing of her task, Psyche climbs a tower, planning to throw herself off. The tower, however, suddenly breaks into speech, and advises her to travel to [[Lacedaemon]], Greece, and to seek out the place called [[Taenarus]], where she will find the entrance to the underworld. The tower offers [[Totenpass|instructions for navigating the underworld]]:
<blockquote>
The airway of [[Dis Pater|Dis]] is there, and through the yawning gates the pathless route is revealed. Once you cross the threshold, you are committed to the unswerving course that takes you to the very [[Regia]] of [[Orcus (mythology)|Orcus]]. But you shouldn’t go emptyhanded through the shadows past this point, but rather carry cakes of honeyed barley in both hands,<ref>Cakes were often offerings to the gods, particularly in [[Eleusinian Mysteries|Eleusinian religion]]; cakes of barley meal moistened with honey, called ''prokonia'' (προκώνια), were offered to Demeter and Kore at the time of first harvest. See Allaire Brumfield, “Cakes in the ''liknon'': Votives from the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore on Acrocorinth,” ''Hesperia'' 66 (1997) 147–172.</ref> and transport [[Charon's obol#The catabasis of Psyche|two coins in your mouth]].
</blockquote>

The speaking tower warns her to maintain silence as she passes by several ominous figures: a lame man driving a mule loaded with sticks, a dead man swimming in the river that separates the world of the living from the world of the dead, and old women weaving. These, the tower warns, will seek to divert her by pleading for her help: she must ignore them. The cakes are treats for distracting [[Cerberus]], the three-headed watchdog of Orcus, and the two [[Charon's obol|coins for Charon the ferryman]], so she can make a return trip.

Everything comes to pass according to plan, and Proserpina grants Psyche's humble entreaty. As soon as she reenters the light of day, however, Psyche is overcome by a bold curiosity, and can't resist opening the box in the hope of enhancing her own beauty. She finds nothing inside but an "infernal and Stygian sleep," which sends her into a deep and unmoving torpor.

[[File:Cupid and Psyche - Anthony Van Dyck (1639-40).jpg|thumb|left|''Cupid and Psyche'' (1639–40) by [[Anthony van Dyck]]: Cupid finds the sleeping Psyche]]

====Reunion and immortal love====
Meanwhile, Cupid's wound has healed into a scar, and he escapes his mother's house by flying out a window. When he finds Psyche, he draws the sleep from her face and replaces it in the box, then pricks her with an arrow that does no harm. He lifts her into the air, and takes her to present the box to Venus.

He then takes his case to [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], who gives his consent in return for Cupid's future help whenever a choice maiden catches his eye. Jupiter has [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]] convene an assembly of the gods in the theater of heaven, where he makes a public statement of approval, warns Venus to back off, and gives Psyche [[ambrosia]], the drink of immortality,<ref>Apuleius describes it as served in a cup, though ambrosia is usually regarded as a food and nectar as a drink.</ref> so the couple can be united in marriage as equals. Their union, he says, will redeem Cupid from his history of provoking adultery and sordid liaisons.<ref>Philip Hardie, ''Rumour and Renown: Representations of ''Fama'' in Western Literature'' (Cambridge University Press, 2012), p. 116; Papaioannou, "Charite's Rape, Psyche on the Rock," p. 321.</ref> Jupiter's word is solemnized with a wedding banquet.

With its happy marriage and resolution of conflicts, the tale ends in the manner of classic [[comedy]]<ref>Relihan, ''The Tale of Cupid and Psyche,'' p. 79.</ref> or [[Ancient Greek novel|Greek romance]]s such as ''[[Daphnis and Chloe]]''.<ref>Stephen Harrison, "Divine Authority in 'Cupid and Psyche': Apuleius ''Metamorphoses'' 6,23–24," in ''Ancient Narrative: Authors, Authority, and Interpreters in the Ancient Novel. Essays in Honor of Gareth L. Schmeling'' (Barkhuis, 2006), p. 182.</ref> The child born to the couple will be [[Voluptas]] (Greek [[Hedone]]), "Pleasure."

====''The Wedding of Cupid and Psyche''====
[[File:Raffaello, banchetto nuziale 02.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|''The Wedding Banquet of Cupid and Psyche'' (1517) by Raphael and his workshop, from the Loggia di Psiche, Villa Farnesina]]
The assembly of the gods has been a popular scenario for both visual and performing arts, with the wedding banquet of Cupid and Psyche a particularly rich occasion. Apuleius describes the scene in terms of a festive Roman dinner party ''([[cena]])''. Cupid, now a husband, reclines in the place of honor (the [[triclinium|"top" couch]]) and embraces Psyche in his lap. Jupiter and [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] situate themselves likewise, and all the other gods are arranged in order. The cupbearer of Jove (Jupiter's other name) serves him with nectar, the "wine of the gods"; Apuleius refers to the cupbearer only as ''ille rusticus puer'', "that country boy," and not as [[Ganymede (mythology)|Ganymede]]. [[Liber]], the Roman god of wine, serves the rest of the company. [[Volcanus|Vulcan]], the god of fire, cooks the food; the [[Horae]] ("Seasons" or "Hours") adorn, or more literally "empurple," everything with roses and other flowers; the [[Gratiae|Graces]] suffuse the setting with the scent of <<link:0>>, and the [[Muses]] with melodic singing. Apollo sings to his [[cithara|lyre]], and Venus takes the starring role in dancing at the wedding, with the Muses as her chorus girls, a [[satyr]] blowing the [[aulos]] ''(tibia'' in Latin), and a young [[Pan (god)#All of the Pans|Pan]] expressing himself through the [[Pan flute|pan pipes]] ''(fistula)''.

The wedding provides [[poetic closure|closure]] for the narrative structure as well as for the love story: the mysteriously provided pleasures Psyche enjoyed in the ''[[domus]]'' of Cupid at the beginning of her odyssey, when she entered into a false marriage preceded by funereal rites, are reimagined in the hall of the gods following correct ritual procedure for a real marriage.<ref>Harrison, "Divine Authority in 'Cupid and Psyche'," p. 179.</ref> The arranging of the gods in their proper order ''(in ordinem)'' would evoke for the Roman audience the religious ceremony of the ''[[lectisternium]]'', a public banquet held for the major deities in the form of statues arranged on luxurious couches, as if they were present and participating in the meal.<ref>Harrison, "Divine Authority in 'Cupid and Psyche'," p. 182.</ref>

[[File:WLA brooklynmuseum Wedgewood-Marriage of Cupid and Psyche.jpg|thumb|left|''Marriage of Cupid and Psyche'' (ca. 1773), [[jasperware]] by [[Wedgwood]] based on the 1st-century [[Marlborough gem]], which most likely was intended to depict an [[mystery religions|initiation rite]] ''([[Brooklyn Museum]])'']]
The wedding banquet was a favored theme for Renaissance art. As early as 1497, [[Giovanni Sabadino degli Arienti]] made the banquet central to his now-lost Cupid and Psyche cycle at the Villa Belriguardo, near [[Ferrara]]. At the [[Villa Farnesina]] in Rome, it is one of two main scenes for the Loggia di Psiche (ca. 1518) by [[Raphael]] and his workshop, as well as for the Stanza di Psiche (1545–46) by [[Perino del Vaga]] at the [[Castel Sant' Angelo]].<ref>Harrison, "Divine Authority in 'Cupid and Psyche'," p. 182.</ref> [[Hendrick Goltzius]] introduced the subject to northern Europe with his "enormous" [[engraving]] called ''The Wedding of Cupid and Psyche'' (1587, 43 by 85.4&nbsp;cm),<ref>Ariane van Suchtelen and Anne T. Woollett, ''Rubens and Brueghel: A Working Friendship'' (Getty Publications, 2006), p. 60; Susan Maxwell, ''The Court Art of Friedrich Sustris: Patronage in Late Renaissance Bavaria'' (Ashgate, 2011), pp. 172, 174.</ref> which influenced how other northern artists depicted assemblies of the gods in general.<ref>Van Suchtelen and Woollett, ''Rubens and Brueghel,'' p. 60; Maxwell, ''The Court Art of Friedrich Sustris,'' p. 172.</ref> The engraving in turn had been taken from [[Bartholomaeus Spranger]]'s 1585 drawing of the same title, considered a "''[[locus classicus]]'' of [[Northern Mannerism|Dutch Mannerism]]" and discussed by [[Karel Van Mander]] for its exemplary composition involving numerous figures.<ref>Martha Hollander, ''An Entrance for the Eyes: Space and Meaning in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art'' (University of California Press, 2002), pp. 11–12.</ref>

In the 18th century, [[François Boucher]]'s ''Marriage of Cupid and Psyche'' (1744) affirmed [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] ideals with the authority figure Jupiter presiding over a marriage of lovely equals. The painting reflects the [[Rococo]] taste for pastels, fluid delicacy, and amorous scenarios infused with youth and beauty.<ref>Michelle Facos, ''An Introduction to 19th Century Art'' (Routledge, 2011), p. 20.</ref>

==As allegory==
[[File:Apuleius Metamorphoses c. 24.jpg|thumb|upright|Psyche in the grove of Cupid, 1345 illustration of the ''Metamorphoses''<ref>Manuscript Vat. Lat. 2194, [[Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana]].</ref>]]
The story of Cupid and Psyche was readily allegorized. In [[late antiquity]], [[Martianus Capella]] (5th century) refashions it as an allegory about the fall of the human soul.<ref>Danuta Shanzer, ''A Philosophical and Literary Commentary on Martianus Capella's ''De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' Book 1'' (University of California Press, 1986), p. 69.</ref> For Apuleius, immortality is granted to the soul of Psyche as a reward for commitment to sexual love. In the version of Martianus, sexual love draws Psyche into the material world that is subject to death:<ref>Relihan, ''The Tale of Cupid and Psyche'', p. 59.</ref> "Cupid takes Psyche from Virtue and shackles her in [[adamant|adamantine chains]]".<ref>[[Martianus Capella]], ''De Nuptiis'' 7; Chance, ''Medieval Mythography,'' p. 271.</ref>

The tale thus lent itself to adaptation in a Christian or [[Mysticism|mystical]] context. In the [[Gnostic]] text ''[[On the Origin of the World]]'', the first rose is created from the blood of Psyche when she loses her virginity to Cupid.<ref>Patricia Cox Miller, "'The Little Blue Flower Is Red': Relics and the Poeticizing of the Body," ''Journal of Early Christian Studies'' 8.2 (2000), p. 229.</ref> To the Christian mythographer [[Fabius Planciades Fulgentius|Fulgentius]] (6th century), Psyche was an [[Adam]] figure, driven by sinful curiosity and lust from the paradise of Love's domain.<ref>Entry on "Apuleius," ''Classical Tradition, ''p. 56.</ref> Psyche's sisters are Flesh and Free Will, and her parents are God and Matter.<ref>Relihan, ''The Tale of Cupid and Psyche'', p. 64.</ref> To [[Boccaccio]] (14th century), the marriage of Cupid and Psyche symbolized the union of soul and God.<ref>Entry on "Apuleius," ''Classical Tradition, ''p. 56.</ref>

==Classical tradition==
Apuleius's novel was among the ancient texts that made the crucial transition from <<link:1>> to [[codex]] form when it was edited at the end of the late 4th century. It was known to Latin writers such as [[Augustine of Hippo]], [[Macrobius]], [[Sidonius Apollinaris]], Martianus Capella, and Fulgentius, but toward the end of the 6th century lapsed into obscurity and survived what was formerly known as the "[[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]]" through perhaps a single [[manuscript]].<ref>Robert H.F. Carver, "The Rediscovery of the Latin Novels," in ''Latin Fiction: The Latin Novel in Context'' (Routledge, 1999), p. 257; Regine May, "The Prologue to Apuleius' ''Metamorphoses'' and Coluccio Salutati: MS Harley 4838," in ''Ancient Narrative. ''Lectiones Scrupulosae'': Essays on the Text and Interpretation of Apuleius' ''Metamorphoses'' in Honour of Maaike Zimmerman'' (Barkhuis, 2006), p. 282.</ref> The ''Metamorphoses'' remained unknown in the 13th century,<ref>Carver, "The Rediscovery of the Latin Novels," p. 259.</ref> but copies had begun to circulate in the mid-1300s among the [[Italian humanism|early humanists]] in [[Renaissance Florence|Florence]].<ref>May, "The Prologue to Apuleius' ''Metamorphoses''," pp. 282–284.</ref> Boccaccio's text and interpretation of ''Cupid and Psyche'' in his ''[[Genealogia deorum gentilium]]'' (written in the 1370s and published 1472) was a major impetus to the reception of the tale in the [[Italian Renaissance]] and to its dissemination throughout Europe.<ref>Jane Kingsley-Smith, ''Cupid in Early Modern Literature and Culture'' (Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp. 11, 165.</ref>

One of the most popular images from the tale was Psyche's discovery of a naked Cupid sleeping, found in ceramics, [[stained glass]], and frescos. [[Mannerist]] painters were intensely drawn to the scene.<ref>Kingsley-Smith, ''Cupid in Early Modern Literature and Culture'', p. 168.</ref> In England, the Cupid and Psyche theme had its "most lustrous period" from 1566 to 1635, beginning with the first English translation by [[William Adlington]]. A fresco cycle for [[Hill Hall (Essex)|Hill Hall, Essex]], was modeled indirectly after that of the Villa Farnesina around 1570,<ref>Kingsley-Smith, ''Cupid in Early Modern Literature and Culture'', pp. 163, 168. The fresco cycle, commissioned by [[Sir Thomas Smith]], was based on engravings by the [[Master of the Die]] and [[Agostino Veneziano]] (1536), which had been taken from the work of [[Michiel Coxie]] that was modeled on the Loggia di Psiche.</ref> and [[Thomas Heywood]]'s [[masque]] ''Love's Mistress'' dramatized the tale to celebrate the wedding of [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] and [[Henrietta Maria]], who later had her [[withdrawing chamber]] decorated with a 22-painting ''Cupid and Psyche'' cycle by [[Jacob Jordaens]]. The cycle took the divinization of Psyche as the centerpiece of the ceiling, and was a vehicle for the Neoplatonism the queen brought with her from France.<ref>Kingsley-Smith, ''Cupid in Early Modern Literature and Culture'', p. 173.</ref> The ''Cupid and Psyche'' produced by [[Orazio Gentileschi]] for the royal couple shows a fully robed Psyche whose compelling interest is psychological, while Cupid is mostly nude.<ref>Kingsley-Smith, ''Cupid in Early Modern Literature and Culture'', p. 176.</ref>

[[File:Hermitageoraziogentileschicupidandpsyche.jpg|thumb|Orazio Gentileschi exposed the erotic vulnerability of the male figure in his ''Cupid and Psyche'' (1628–30)]] 
Another peak of interest in ''Cupid and Psyche'' occurred in the Paris of the late 1790s and early 1800s, reflected in a proliferation of opera, ballet, [[Salon (Paris)|Salon art]], deluxe book editions, interior decoration such as clocks and wall paneling, and even hairstyles. In the aftermath of the [[French Revolution]], the myth became a vehicle for the refashioning of the self.<ref>Ewa Lajer-Burchart, ''Necklines: The Art of Jacques-Louis David After the Terror'' (Yale University Press, 1999), pp. 278–279.</ref> In English intellectual and artistic circles around the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, the fashion for ''Cupid and Pysche'' accompanied a fascination for the ancient [[mystery religions]]. In writing about the [[Portland Vase]], which was obtained by the [[British Museum]] around 1810, [[Erasmus Darwin]] speculated that the myth of Cupid and Psyche was part of the [[Eleusinian Mysteries|Eleusinian cycle]]. With his interest in [[natural philosophy]], Darwin saw the butterfly as an apt emblem of the soul because it began as an earthbound caterpillar, "died" into the [[pupa|pupal stage]], and was then resurrected as a beautiful winged creature.<ref>Kathleen Raine, ''Blake and Tradition'' (Routledge, 1969, 2002), vol. 1, p. 183.</ref>

===Literature===
In 1491, the poet [[Niccolò da Correggio]] retold the story with Cupid as the narrator.<ref>Entry on "Apuleius," ''Classical Tradition, ''p. 57.</ref> [[John Milton]] alludes to the story at the conclusion of ''[[Comus (John Milton)|Comus]]'' (1634), attributing not one but two children to the couple: Youth and Joy. [[Shackerley Marmion]] wrote a verse version called ''Cupid and Psyche'' (1637), and [[La Fontaine]] a mixed prose and verse romance (1699).<ref>Entry on "Apuleius," ''Classical Tradition, ''p. 57.</ref>

[[William Blake's mythology]] draws on elements of the tale particularly in the figures of [[Luvah]] and [[Vala (Blake)|Vala]]. Luvah takes on the various guises of Apuleius's Cupid: beautiful and winged; disembodied voice; and serpent. [[William Blake|Blake]], who mentions his admiration for Apuleius in his notes, combines the myth with the spiritual quest expressed through the eroticism of the [[Song of Solomon]], with [[Solomon]] and the [[Shulamite]] as a parallel couple.<ref>Raine, ''Blake and Tradition'', vol. 1, pp. 182–203, quoting Blake's notes on ''[[A Vision of the Last Judgment]]'', and especially pp. 183, 191 and 201.</ref>

[[File:Cupid and psyche.jpg|thumb|left|''Cupid and Psyche'' (1817) by [[Jacques-Louis David]]: the choice of narrative moment—a [[libertine]] adolescent Cupid departs Psyche's bed with "malign joy"<ref>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.</ref>—was a new twist on the well-worn subject<ref>Bordes, ''Jacques-Louis David,'' p. 232.</ref>]]
[[Mary Tighe]] published her poem ''Psyche'' in 1805. She added some details to the story, such placing two springs in Venus' garden, one with sweet water and one with bitter. When Cupid starts to obey his mother's command, he brings some of both to a sleeping Psyche, but places only the bitter water on Psyche's lips. Tighe's Venus only asks one task of Psyche, to bring her the forbidden water, but in performing this task Psyche wanders into a country bordering on [[Edmund Spenser|Spenser]]'s ''[[The Faerie Queene|Fairie Queene]]'' as Psyche is aided by a mysterious visored knight and his squire Constance, and must escape various traps set by Vanity, Flattery, Ambition, Credulity, Disfida (who lives in a "Gothic castle"), Varia and Geloso. Spenser's [[Blatant Beast]] also makes an appearance. Tighe's work influenced English lyric poetry on the theme, including two poems by [[William Wordsworth]] called "To a Butterfly," and the ''[[Ode to Psyche]]'' (1820) by [[John Keats]].{{citation needed|date=February 2013}}

[[William Morris]] retold the Cupid and Psyche story in verse in ''The Earthly Paradise'' (1868&ndash;70), and a chapter in [[Walter Pater]]'s ''[[Marius the Epicurean]]'' (1885) was a prose translation.<ref>Entry on "Apuleius," ''Classical Tradition, ''p. 57.</ref> About the same time, [[Robert Bridges]] wrote ''[[Eros and Psyche (Robert Bridges)|Eros and Psyche: A Narrative Poem in Twelve Measures]]'' (1885; 1894).

[[Sylvia Townsend Warner]] transferred the story to [[Victorian era|Victorian]] England in her novel ''The True Heart'' (1929), though few readers made the connection till she pointed it out herself.<ref>J. Lawrence Mitchell, "Ray Garnett as Illustrator". ''Powys Review'' '''10''' (spring 1982), pp. 9–28.</ref> Other literary adaptations include ''[[The Robber Bridegroom (novel)|The Robber Bridegroom]]'' (1942), a novella by [[Eudora Welty]]; ''[[Till We Have Faces]]'' (1956), a version by [[C.S. Lewis]] narrated by a sister of Psyche; and the poem "Pysche: 'Love drove her to Hell'" by [[H.D.|H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)]].<ref>Entry on "Apuleius," ''Classical Tradition,'' p. 57.</ref>

====Translations====
[[William Adlington]] made the first translation into English of Apuleius's ''Metamorphoses'' in 1566, under the title ''{{Not a typo|The XI Bookes of the Golden Asse, Conteininge the Metamorphosie of Lucius Apuleius}}''. Adlington seems not to have been interested in a Neoplatonic reading, but his translation consistently suppresses the sensuality of the original.<ref>Kingsley-Smith, ''Cupid in Early Modern Literature and Culture'', p. 168.</ref> [[Thomas Taylor (neoplatonist)|Thomas Taylor]] published an influential translation of ''Cupid and Psyche'' in 1795, several years before his complete ''Metamorphoses''.<ref>Raine, ''Blake and Tradition'', vol. 1, p. 182.</ref> A translation by [[Robert Graves]] appeared in 1951 as ''The Transformations of Lucius Otherwise Known as THE GOLDEN ASS, A New Translation by Robert Graves from Apuleius'', published by [[Farrar, Straus & Giroux]], New York.

====Folklore and children's literature====
[[File:Edward Burne-Jones Pan and Psyche.jpg|thumb|upright|''Pan and Psyche'' (1872-74) by Edward Burne-Jones]]
[[Bruno Bettelheim]] notes in ''[[The Uses of Enchantment]]'' that the 18th-century fairy tale ''[[Beauty and the Beast]]'' is a version of ''Cupid and Psyche''. Motifs from Apuleius occur in several fairy tales, including ''[[Cinderella]]'' and ''[[Rumpelstiltskin]]'', in versions collected by folklorists trained in the classical tradition, such as [[Charles Perrault]] and the [[Grimm brothers]].<ref>Harrison, "Cupid and Psyche," ''Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome,'' p. 339.</ref> In the Grimm version, Cinderella is given the task of sorting lentils and peas from ash, and is aided by birds just as ants help Psyche in the sorting of grain and legumes imposed on her by Venus. Like Cinderella, Psyche has two envious sisters who compete with her for the most desirable male. Cinderella's sisters mutilate their own feet to emulate her, while Psyche's are dashed to death on a rocky cliff.<ref>Amy K. Levin, ''The Suppressed Sister: A Relationship in Novels by Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century British Women'' (Associated University Presses, 1992), pp. 23–24 ''et passim.''</ref>

[[Thomas Bulfinch]] wrote a shorter adaptation of the Cupid and Psyche tale for his ''Age of Fable'', borrowing Tighe's invention of Cupid's self-wounding, which did not appear in the original. [[Josephine Preston Peabody]] wrote a version for children in her ''Old Greek Folk Stories Told Anew'' (1897).

===Performing arts===
In 1634, [[Thomas Heywood]] turned the tale of Cupid and Psyche into a [[masque]] for the court of [[Charles I of England|Charles I]].<ref>Entry on "Apuleius," ''Classical Tradition'', p. 57.</ref>  <<link:2>>'s ''[[Psyché (opera)|Psyché]]'' (1678) is a Baroque [[French opera]] (a "[[tragédie lyrique]]") based on [[Psyché (play)|the 1671 play]] by [[Molière]], which had musical ''[[intermède]]s'' by Lully. [[Matthew Locke (composer)|Matthew Locke]]'s [[semi-opera]] ''[[Psyche (Locke)|Psyche]]'' (1675) is a loose reworking from the 1671 production. In 1800, [[Ludwig Abeille]] premièred his four-act German opera ''([[singspiel]])'' ''[[Amor und Psyche]]'', with a [[libretto]] by [[Franz Carl Hiemer]] based on Apuleius.

[[File:Psyche et LAmour.jpg|thumb|upright|left|''Psyche et L'Amour'' (1889) by [[William-Adolphe Bouguereau|Bouguereau]]]]
In the 19th century, ''Cupid and Psyche'' was a source for "transformations," visual interludes involving ''[[tableaux vivants]]'', [[Scrim (material)|transparencies]] and [[stage machinery]] that were presented between the scenes of a [[pantomime]] but extraneous to the plot.<ref>Anita Callaway, ''Visual Ephemera: Theatrical Art in Nineteenth-Century Australia'' (University of New South Wales Press, 2000), p. 177.</ref> During the 1890s, when ''tableaux vivants'' or "living pictures" were in vogue as a part of [[vaudeville]], the 1889 ''Psyché et l'Amour'' of [[Bouguereau]] was among the artworks staged. To create these ''tableaux'', costumed performers "froze" in poses before a background copied meticulously from the original and enlarged within a giant picture frame. Nudity was feigned by flesh-colored [[bodystocking]]s that negotiated standards of realism, good taste, and morality.<ref>Charles Musser, "Comparison and Judgment across Theater, Film, and the Visual Arts during the Late Nineteenth Century," in ''Moving Pictures: American Art and Early Film, 1880-1910'' (Hudson Hills Press for Williams College Museum of Art, 2005), pp. 6–7; pp. 73–74.</ref> Claims of educational and artistic value allowed female nudes—a popular attraction—to evade censorship.<ref>Callaway, ''Visual Ephemera,'' p. 76.</ref> ''Psyché et l'Amour'' was reproduced by the [[scenic painter]] [[Edouard von Kilanyi]], who made a tour of Europe and the United States beginning in 1892,<ref>Musser, "Comparison and Judgment across Theater, Film, and the Visual Arts," p. 7.</ref> and by George Gordon in an Australian production that began its run in December 1894.<ref>Callaway, ''Visual Ephemera,'' p. 217.</ref> The illusion of flight was so difficult to sustain that this ''tableau'' was necessarily brief.<ref>Callaway, ''Visual Ephemera,'' p. 76.</ref> The performer billed as "The Modern Milo" during this period specialized in recreating female sculptures, a ''Psyche'' in addition to her namesake ''[[Venus de Milo]]''.<ref>Callaway, ''Visual Ephemera,'' p. 70</ref>

[[Frederick Ashton]] choreographed a [[ballet]] ''Cupid and Psyche'' with music by [[Lord Berners]] and decor by Sir Francis Rose, first performed on 27 April 1939 by the [[Sadler's Wells Ballet]] (now [[Royal Ballet]]). Frank Staff danced as Cupid, [[Julia Farron]] as Psyche, [[Michael Somes]] as Pan, and [[June Brae]] as Venus.<ref>Arnold Haskell (ed) 'Gala Performance' (Collins 1955) p213.</ref>

Writer [[David Benullo]] was responsible for a low-budget movie, titled "Cupid", in which a perversion of the Cupid/Psyche myth was used to create a serial killer character (1997).

===Psychology and feminism===
Viewed in terms of psychology rather than allegory, the tale of Cupid and Psyche shows how "a mutable person … matures within the [[social construct]]s of family and marriage".<ref>Relihan, ''The Tale of Cupid and Psyche,'' p. 76.</ref> In the [[Archetypal psychology#Psyche or Soul|Jungian allegory]] of [[Erich Neumann (psychologist)|Erich Neumann]] (1956), the story of Psyche was interpreted as "the psychic development of the feminine".<ref>, entry on "Apuleius," ''Classical Tradition,'' p. 56.</ref>

''Cupid and Psyche'' has been analyzed from a [[feminist criticism|feminist perspective]] as a paradigm of how the gender unity of women is disintegrated through rivalry and envy, replacing the bonds of sisterhood with an ideal of heterosexual love.<ref>Amy K. Levin, ''The Suppressed Sister: A Relationship in Novels by Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century British Women'' (Associated University Presses, 1992), p. 22.</ref> This theme was explored in ''Psyche's Sisters: Reimagining the Meaning of Sisterhood'' (1988) by [[Christine Downing]],<ref>Levin, ''The Suppressed Sister,'' p. 14.</ref> who uses [[polytheistic myth as psychology|myth as a medium for psychology]].

[[James Hillman]] made the story the basis for his critique of scientific psychology, ''The Myth of Analysis: Three Essays in Archetypal Psychology'' (1983). [[Carol Gilligan]] uses the story as the basis for much of her analysis of love and relationships in ''The Birth of Pleasure'' (Knopf, 2002).

===Fine and decorative arts===
The story of Cupid and Psyche is depicted in a wide range of visual media. Psyche is often represented with butterfly wings, and the butterfly is her frequent attribute and a symbol of the soul, though the literary ''Cupid and Pysche'' never says that she has or acquires wings. In [[classical antiquity|antiquity]], an iconographical tradition existed independently of Apuleius's tale and influenced later depictions.<ref>Relihan, ''The Tale of Cupid and Psyche'', p. xvii; Jean Sorabella, "A Roman Sarcophagus and Its Patron," ''Metropolitan Museum Journal'' 36 (2001), p. 73.</ref>

====Ancient art====
[[File:Cupid and Psyche, Roman sarcophagus panel - Indianapolis Museum of Art - DSC00753.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|On this fragment from a sarcophagus used in the early 4th century, Cupid and a butterfly-winged Psyche frame a portrait of the deceased, carried on an eagle with a [[cornucopia]] and spilling basket of fruit<ref>"Sarcophagus panel: Cupid and Psyche", Indianapolis Museum of Art [http://www.imamuseum.org/art/collections/artwork/sarcophagus-panel-cupid-and-psyche- description.] The sarcophagus was made for retail, and the portrait added later.</ref> ''([[Indianapolis Museum of Art]])'']]

Some extant examples suggest that in antiquity Cupid and Psyche could have a religious or mystical meaning. [[Ring (jewellery)|Ring]]s bearing their likeness, several of which come from [[Roman Britain]], may have served an [[amulet]]ic purpose.<ref>Jean Bagnall Smith, "Votive Objects and Objects of Votive Significance from Great Walsingham," ''Britannia'' 30 (1999), p. 36.</ref> [[Engraved gem]]s from Britain represent spiritual torment with the image of Cupid torching a butterfly.<ref>Dominic Perring, "'Gnosticism' in Fourth-Century Britain: The Frampton Mosaics Reconsidered," ''Britannia'' 34 (2003), p. 119, citing also M. Henig, "Death and the Maiden: Funerary Symbolism in Daily Life," in ''Roman Life and Art in Britain'', British Archaeological Reports 41 (Oxford, 1977).</ref> On [[ancient Roman sarcophagi|sarcophagi]], the couple often seem to represent an allegory of love overcoming death.<ref>Harrison, "Cupid and Psyche," ''Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome,'' p. 338.</ref>

A relief of Cupid and Psyche was displayed at the [[mithraeum]] of [[Capua]], but it is unclear whether it expresses a [[Mithraic mysteries|Mithraic]] quest for salvation, or was simply a subject that appealed to an individual for other reasons. Psyche is invoked with "Providence" ''(Pronoia)'' at the beginning of the so-called [[Mithras Liturgy]].<ref>R.L. Gordon, "Franz Cumont and the Doctrines of Mithraism," in ''Mithraic Studies'' (Manchester University Press, 1975), p. 239.</ref>

In [[late antiquity]], the couple are often shown in a "chin-chuck" embrace, a gesture of "erotic communion" with a long history.<ref>[[Leo Steinberg]], ''The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion'' (University of Chicago Press, 1983, 2nd ed. 1996), p. 5.</ref>  The rediscovery of freestanding sculptures of the couple influenced several significant works of the modern era.

Other depictions surviving from antiquity include a 2nd-century [[papyrus]] illustration possibly of the tale,<ref>Gaisser, ''The Fortunes of Apuleius and The Golden Ass,'' p. 20.</ref> and a ceiling [[fresco]] at [[History of Trier#Roman Empire|Trier]] executed during the reign of [[Constantine I]].<ref>Harrison, "Cupid and Psyche," ''Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome,'' p. 338.</ref>

====Modern era====
[[File:Alphonse Legros - Cupid and Psyche - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''Cupid and Psyche'' (1867) by Alphonse Legros, criticized for rendering female nudity as "commonplace"]]
Works of art proliferated after the rediscovery of Apuleius's text, in conjunction with the influence of classical sculpture. In the mid-15th century, Cupid and Psyche became a popular subject for Italian wedding chests ''([[cassone|cassoni]])'',<ref>Entry on "Apuleius," ''Classical Tradition,'' p. 57.</ref> particularly those of the [[Medici family|Medici]]. The choice was most likely prompted by Boccaccio's Christianized allegory. The earliest of these ''cassoni'', dated variously to the years 1444–1470,<ref>According to Maria Grazia Pernis and Laurie Schneider Adams, ''Lucrezia Tornabuoni De' Medici and the Medici Family in the Fifteenth Century'' (Peter Lang, 2006), p. 24, the Medici family commissioned a pair illustrating the tale for the wedding of [[Lucrezia Tornabuoni]] and [[Piero di Cosimo de' Medici]] in 1444, owing perhaps to the appeal of Boccaccio's allegory to the intellectual but devout Piero. Other scholars hold the same view, but 1470 is perhaps the more widely accepted date. See Julia Haig Gaisser, ''The Fortunes of Apuleius and The Golden Ass: A Study in Transmission and Reception'' (Princeton University Press, 2008), p. 119, especially note 193 for further sources. In that case, the chests were created for the wedding of [[Lorenzo de' Medici]], Piero's son, and [[Clarice Orsini]].</ref> pictures the narrative in two parts: from Psyche's conception to her abandonment by Cupid; and her wanderings and the happy ending.<ref>Gaisser, ''The Fortunes of Apuleius,'' p. 119.</ref>

''Cupid and Psyche'' is a rich source for scenarios, and several artists have produced cycles of works based on it, including the frescoes at the [[Villa Farnesina]] (ca. 1518) by [[Raphael]] and his workshop; frescoes at [[Palazzo del Tè]] (1527–28) by [[Giulio Romano]]; [[engraving]]s by the "[[Master of the Die]]" (mid-16th century); and paintings by the [[Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood|Pre-Raphaelite]] [[Edward Burne-Jones]] (in the 1870s–90s).<ref>Entry on "Apuleius," ''Classical Tradition,'' p. 57.</ref> Burne-Jones also executed a series of 47 drawings intended as illustrations for Morris's poem.<ref>Vera Schuster, "The Pre-Raphaelites in Oxford," ''Oxford Art Journal'' 1 (1978), p. 7.</ref> ''Cupid and Psyche'' was the subject of the only cycle of [[printmaking|prints]] created by the German [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolist]] [[Max Klinger]] (1857–1920) to illustrate a specific story.<ref>J. Kirk T. Varnedoe with Elizabeth Streicher, ''Graphic Works of Max Klinger'' (Dover, 1977), p. 78.</ref>

[[File:David Psyche 1795.jpg|thumb|upright=.6|left|''Psyche Abandoned'' (1795) by Jacques-Louis David]]
The most popular subjects for single paintings or sculpture are the couple alone, or explorations of the figure of Psyche, who is sometimes depicted in compositions that recall the sleeping [[Ariadne]] as she was found by Dionysus.<ref>Marion Lawrence, "Ships, Monsters and Jonah," ''American Journal of Archaeology'' 66.3 (1962), p. 290.</ref> The use of [[Nude (art)|nudity]] or sexuality in portraying Cupid and Psyche sometimes has offended contemporary sensibilities. In the 1840s, the [[American Academy of the Fine Arts|National Academy of Art]] banned [[William Page]]'s ''Cupid and Psyche'', called perhaps "the most erotic painting in nineteenth-century America".<ref>John D'Emilio and Estelle B. Freedman, ''Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America'' (University of Chicago Press, 1988, 1997), 2nd ed., pp. 108, 148.</ref> Classical subject matter might be presented in terms of realistic nudity: in 1867, the female figure in the ''Cupid and Psyche'' of [[Alphonse Legros]] was criticized as a "commonplace naked young woman".<ref>Alison Smith, ''The Victorian Nude: Sexuality, Morality, and Art'' (Manchester University Press, 1996), p. 120.</ref> But during the same period, Cupid and Psyche were also portrayed chastely, as in the [[pastoral]] sculptures ''Psyche'' (1845) by Townsend and ''Cupid and Psyche'' (1846) by [[Thomas Uwins]], which were purchased by [[Queen Victoria]] and her [[Albert, Prince Consort|consort Albert]], otherwise keen collectors of nudes in the 1840s and 50s.<ref>Smith, ''The Victorian Nude,'' pp. 71–72.</ref>

Portrayals of Psyche alone are often not confined to illustrating a scene from Apuleius, but may draw on the broader Platonic tradition in which Love was a force that shaped the self. The ''Psyche Abandoned'' of [[Jacques-Louis David]], probably based on La Fontaine's version of the tale, depicts the moment when Psyche, having violated the taboo of looking upon her lover, is abandoned alone on a rock, her nakedness expressing dispossession and the color palette a psychological "divestment". The work has been seen as an "emotional proxy" for the artist's own isolation and desperation during his imprisonment, which resulted from his participation in the [[French Revolution]] and association with [[Robespierre]].<ref>Ewa Lajer-Burchart, ''Necklines: The Art of Jacques-Louis David After the Terror'' (Yale University Press, 1999), p. 54ff., especially p. 61.</ref>

====Sculpture====
<gallery>
Image:Statua di Amore e Psiche.jpg|''[[Cupid and Psyche (Roman sculpture)|Cupid and Psyche]]'' (2nd century AD)
File:Altes Museum - Statuengruppe, Amor und Psyche.jpg|''Cupid and Psyche'' (ca. 150 AD)
File:Psyche revived Louvre MR1777.jpg|''[[Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss]]'' (1793) by [[Antonio Canova]]
File:BLW Cupid and Psyche (2).jpg|''Cupid and Psyche'' by [[Clodion]] (d. 1814)
File:Thorvaldsen Psyche ANG Berlin.jpg|''Psyche'' by [[Bertel Thorvaldsen]] (d. 1844)
</gallery>

====Painting====
<gallery>
File:Jacopo Zucchi - Amor and Psyche.jpg|''Amor and Psyche'' (1589) by [[Jacopo Zucchi]]

File:Francisco de Goya-Allegory of Love, Cupid and Psyche.jpg|''Allegory of Love, Cupid and Psyche'' by [[Francisco Goya|Goya]] (d. 1828)
File:Brocky, Karoly - Cupid and Psyche (1850-5).jpg|''Cupid and Psyche'' (1850–55) by [[Károly Brocky]]
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Wikisource|Cupid and Psyche}}
{{Commons category|Amor and Psyche}}
* [http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/beautybeast/other.html Tales Similar to Beauty and the Beast] (Texts of ''Cupid and Psyche'' and similar ''monster or beast as bridegroom'' tales, mostly of AT-425C form, with hyperlinked commentary).
* [http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Bridges%2C%20Robert%20Seymour%2C%201844-1930%22%20eros Robert Bridge's Eros and Psyche at archive.org]: [http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013439025 pdf] or [http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924013439025#page/n81/mode/2up read online]
* '''Mary Tighe''', ''Psyche or, the Legend of Love'' (1820) [http://web.nmsu.edu/~hlinkin HTML] or [http://web.nmsu.edu/~hlinkin/Psyche PDF] 
* '''Voluptas'''
** [http://www.voluptas.info/ Ode to Voluptas] (Information about Voluptas, Daughter of Cupid & Psyche) 
* '''Walter Pater''', ''Marius the Epicurean'', chapter 5 (1885)
** [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4057 Gutenberg Project: Walter Pater, Marius the Epicurean, Vol. 1] (Plain text.)
** [http://www.blackmask.com/books57c/7mrs1dex.htm Blackmask: Walter Pater, "Marius the Epicurean": chapter 5]
** [http://www.victorianprose.org/texts/Pater/Works/mar_85_1.pdf Victorian Prose: Walter Pater, Marius the Epicurean, Vol. 1] (PDF) 
** The Baldwin Project: [http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=peabody&book=greek&story=cupid The Enchanted Palace] and [http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=peabody&book=greek&story=psyche The Trial of Psyche]
* '''Thomas Bulfinch''', ''The Age of Fable'' (1913)
** [http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/cupid.html D. L Ashliman: Folktexts: Cupid and Psyche]
* [http://www.plotinus.com/myth_cupid_psyche_copy.htm Hermetic Philosophy: Cupid and Psyche] (Illustrated with painting and sculpture.)

* '''Art'''
** [http://www.artrenewal.org/articles/2001/Cupid_and_Psyche/cupidpsyche.php Art Renewal Center: "Cupid & Psyche" by Sharrell E. Gibson] (Examples and discussion of Cupid and Psyche in painting.)
** [http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/vpc/VPC_search/subcats.php?cat_1=5&cat_2=167&cat_3=887&cat_4=1276 Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (ca 430 images of Cupid and Psyche)]
** [http://www.colecciondeverda.com/search/label/Fabula%20de%20Amor%20y%20Psique Tale of Cupid and Psyche engravings by Maestro del Dado and Agostino Veneziano from the De Verda collection]

[[Category:Roman mythology]]
[[Category:Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Latin prose texts]]
[[Category:Classical Latin literature]]
[[Category:Heroes who ventured to Hades]]

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