Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss

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Psyché ranimée par le baiser de l'Amour (Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss) by Antonio Canova, 1793
Musée du Louvre
Rue de Rivoli
Quartier Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, 1st arrondissement
Paris, July 2005

“Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss (Psyché ranimée par le baiser de l'Amour) is a sculpture by Italian artist Antonio Canova first commissioned in 1787 by Colonel John Campbell. It is regarded as a masterpiece of Neoclassical sculpture, but shows the mythological lovers at a moment of great emotion, characteristic of the emerging movement of Romanticism. It represents the god Cupid in the height of love and tenderness, immediately after awakening the lifeless Psyche with a kiss. The story of Cupid and Psyche is taken from Lucius Apuleius' Latin novel The Golden Ass, and was popular in art. Joachim Murat acquired the first or prime version (pictured) in 1800. After his death the statue entered the Louvre Museum in Paris, France in 1824; Prince Yusupov, a Russian nobleman acquired the 2nd version of the piece from Canova in Rome in 1796, and it later entered the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. A full-scale model for the 2nd version is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” (Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss, Wikipedia)