Wendy Thompson
Department of Drawings and Prints, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
October 2004
The Power of Eros
Love conquers all; let us, too, yield to Love!
—Virgil, Eclogues 10:69
The overwhelming power of love was a frequent theme of ancient poets, such as the Greek Theocritus (ca. 300–260 B.C.) and the Romans Ovid (43 B.C.–17/18 A.D.) and Virgil (70–19 B.C.) In their verses, this potent force was often embodied by Venus (the Greek Aphrodite), goddess of love, and her son Cupid (the Greek Eros), whose sharp arrows and flaming torches aroused the passions of both gods and mortals. The conceit of love’s conquest was often given visual form by artists of the Renaissance and Baroque, who illustrated Cupid at the center of a triumphal procession or wrestling Pan, symbol of the universe, to the ground. The interaction between Cupid and his mother could also be a metaphor for various aspects of love, while the adulterous affair between Venus and Mars, the god of war, could signify the capacity of love to subdue violence.
Love of the Gods
O son, both arms and hands to me, and source of all my power … you rule the gods and Jove himself …
—Venus, in Ovid, Metamorphoses 5:365–69
Throughout his long poem, the Metamorphoses, Ovid celebrates the power of little Cupid to overcome even the mightiest of the gods. Apollo’s futile passion for the nymph Daphne, the first love story recounted by Ovid, is presented as Cupid’s vengeance on the god who had dared to question his supremacy. The golden arrow with which Cupid pierced Apollo’s heart proved more potent than those Apollo had used to slay the Python. Ovid often refers to love’s capacity to make a fool of the great god Jupiter (the Greek Zeus, also known as Jove), who willingly changed his august form to that of bull, eagle, or swan in order to carry out his seductions. The quotation above comes from the poet’s account of the victory of Venus and Cupid over Jupiter’s brother: when Pluto, struck by Cupid’s arrow, became enamored of Proserpina and carried her down to his infernal realm, love’s dominion was extended to the Underworld.
Beginning in the Renaissance, the Ovidian love stories formed one of the most popular subjects for the decoration of villas and palaces. Such tales also provided ideal material for prints, placing affordable and portable images of idealized nudes—often engaged in provocative acts—in the hands of a wide public.
Citation
Thompson, Wendy. “Lovers in Italian Mythological Prints.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/lovr/hd_lovr.htm (October 2004)
Further Reading
Landau, David, and Peter Parshall. The Renaissance Print, 1470–1550. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994.
Thompson, Wendy. Poets, Lovers, and Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004. See on MetPublications
Additional Essays by Wendy Thompson
- Thompson, Wendy. “The Printed Image in the West: Drypoint.” (October 2003)
- Thompson, Wendy. “Poets in Italian Mythological Prints.” (October 2004)
- Thompson, Wendy. “Poets, Lovers, and Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints.” (October 2004)
- Thompson, Wendy. “The Printed Image in the West: Etching.” (October 2003)
- Thompson, Wendy. “Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778).” (October 2003)
- Thompson, Wendy. “Woodcut Book Illustration in Renaissance Italy: Florence in the 1490s.” (October 2004)
- Thompson, Wendy. “Woodcut Book Illustration in Renaissance Italy: The First Illustrated Books.” (October 2004)
- Thompson, Wendy. “Woodcut Book Illustration in Renaissance Italy: Venice in the 1490s.” (October 2004)
- Thompson, Wendy. “Woodcut Book Illustration in Renaissance Italy: Venice in the Sixteenth Century.” (October 2004)
- Thompson, Wendy. “Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints.” (October 2004)
- Thompson, Wendy. “The Printed Image in the West: Engraving.” (October 2003)
- Thompson, Wendy. “The Printed Image in the West: History and Techniques.” (October 2003)
- Thompson, Wendy. “The Printed Image in the West: Woodcut.” (October 2003)
Related Essays
- Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints
- Poets in Italian Mythological Prints
- Poets, Lovers, and Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints
- The Printed Image in the West: Etching
- The Printed Image in the West: Woodcut
- Annibale Carracci (1560–1609)
- Baroque Rome
- Birth and Family in the Italian Renaissance
- Botanical Imagery in European Painting
- Courtship and Betrothal in the Italian Renaissance
- Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680)
- Greek Gods and Religious Practices
- Images of Antiquity in Limoges Enamels in the French Renaissance
- Music in Ancient Greece
- Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665)
- The Nude in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
- Paintings of Love and Marriage in the Italian Renaissance
- The Printed Image in the West: Aquatint
- The Printed Image in the West: Engraving
- The Printed Image in the West: History and Techniques
- Profane Love and Erotic Art in the Italian Renaissance
- Weddings in the Italian Renaissance
- Woodcut Book Illustration in Renaissance Italy: Florence in the 1490s
- Woodcut Book Illustration in Renaissance Italy: Venice in the 1490s
- Woodcut Book Illustration in Renaissance Italy: Venice in the Sixteenth Century
Chronology
Keywords
- 17th Century A.D.
- 18th Century A.D.
- Adonis
- Allegory
- Ancient Greek Art
- Ancient Roman Art
- Aphrodite / Venus
- Architecture
- Ares / Mars
- Baroque Art
- Bow and Arrow
- Chariot
- Deity / Religious Figure
- Engraving
- Eros / Cupid
- Etching
- Europe
- Greece
- Herakles / Hercules
- Hermes / Mercury
- High Renaissance
- Interior
- Italy
- Love
- Mythical Creature
- Mythology
- Nude
- Orpheus
- Ovid’s Metamorphoses
- Printmaking
- Psyche
- Renaissance Art
- Rome
- Satyr / Faun
- Seasons
- Sex
- Spring
- Virgil’s Aeneid
- Warfare
- Zeus / Jupiter
Artist or Maker
- Albani, Francesco
- Bordone, Benedetto
- Cambiaso, Luca
- Campagnola, Giulio
- Carracci, Agostino
- Coriolano, Bartolomeo
- David, Giovanni
- Dente, Marco
- Francia, Francesco
- Gandolfi, Gaetano
- Ghisi, Giorgio
- Ghisi, Teodoro
- Mantegna, Andrea
- Master I. B. with the Bird
- Master of the Die
- Palumba, Giovanni Battista
- Parmigianino
- Peregrino da Cesena
- Peruzzi, Baldassare Tommaso
- Raimondi, Marcantonio
- Raphael
- Reni, Guido
- Rosaspina, Francesco
- Rosselli, Francesco
- Scolari, Giuseppe
- Scultori, Adamo (Ghisi)
- Testa, Pietro
- Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista
- Tiepolo, Giovanni Domenico
- Valesio, Giovanni Luigi
- Vico, Enea