Cupid is usually painted as an ideal, graceful youth. In this painting, Jacques-Louis David gave him a smirk and gangly limbs, and when it was first shown many viewers found the result unsettling.
What you're looking at
A young woman, Psyche, lies asleep on a couch while a winged figure, Cupid, sits beside her and grins out at you. The old myth says Cupid visited Psyche at night on one condition: she must never learn who he was. Psyche is pale, smooth and peaceful. Cupid is awkward and grinning, and he looks very pleased with himself. Look for the two butterflies: one above Psyche's head, and one on the base of the bed frame.
A painting made far from home
David signed it on the arm of the couch in yellow paint: “L. David 1817 Bruxelles.” He was living in exile in Brussels after the fall of Napoleon. Cleveland's ownership record begins with Count Giovanni Battista Sommariva, and the Clark Art Institute notes that David painted his late works for private clients but showed them in public.
Why this Cupid looks so different
David wanted to explore the clash between an idealized love and a physical reality. For his Cupid, he drew on several ancient texts, including a Greek poem by Moschus, recently published at the time, that describes Cupid as a mean-spirited brat with flashing eyes and curly hair. The Cleveland Museum of Art calls the result an “ungainly teenager smirking at his sexual conquest.”
That was not what people expected. The Clark Art Institute, in its 2005 exhibition of David's work, notes that when the painting was first exhibited, many observers found this unconventional treatment unsettling, and it was not well received.
One detail to look for
Compare the two bodies. Psyche is drawn with soft, pale, flowing lines. Cupid is ruddy, angular and a bit gawky. David put them side by side so that you feel the difference.
Where it went next
Cleveland's records show Sommariva's collection was sold in Paris in 1839. The painting then passed through French collections, including the Pourtalès family and Prince Murat. It came up at auction in Paris in 1961, and the Cleveland Museum of Art acquired it in 1962.