Description
This clay model is a maquette for a sculpture in limestone more than three feet tall, entitled Cupid Disguised, Hiding Under a Veil. The motif is borrowed from the Marlborough cameo (an ancient Roman cameo now at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, inv. no. 99.101) that was a source of inspiration for neoclassical artists. The gem illustrates the wedding of Cupid and Psyche—shown as veiled children with protruding wings—from which Godecharle extracted the single figure of Cupid and, instead, depicted him in ambush.
Provenance
Joseph Henry Fitzhenry [1836-1913], London (-1913); (Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Fitzhenry sale, Feb. 18-21, 1914, no. 499, sold to Lemay) (1914); Lemay (1914–); Marius Paulme [1863-1928], Paris (Until 1929); (Paulme sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, May 15, 1929, no. 320, possibly sold to Comte de Rivaud) (1929); Possibly Comte de Rivaud (1929-); (Sale, Palais Galliera, Paris, Dec. 6, 1972, no. 49 (1972); (Kunsthandlung Julius Böhler, Munich, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (Until 1977); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1977–)
Accession Number
1977.72
Medium
terracotta
Dimensions
Overall: 22.8 cm (9 in.)
Classification
Sculpture
Credit Line
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
