Jacques-Louis David's 'Cupid and Psyche' (1817) depicts the young god of love leaving the sleeping Psyche's bed at dawn, a moment borrowed from Apuleius. Painted in Brussels during David's post-Napoleonic exile, the chilly, almost satirical Neoclassical treatment — Cupid smirking conspiratorially at the viewer — marked a deliberate break with earlier idealisations of the subject. Oil on canvas, Cleveland Museum of Art.

Exhibition Venue

Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States