We often see cute little angels in paintings, chubby with small wings waving, with bows and arrows to make people fall in love, such a romantic symbol, and different from the biblical angels, and known as the little angel Cupid, in art is also favored by painters. Just as falling in love can be confusing, Cupid and the biblical angels can be confusing, so today we'll talk about why Cupid's birth became one of the symbols of Valentine's Day.
Cherubim angels
Sistine Madonna，Raphael
Many people confuse Cupid with the angels of Kirubo, but in fact the angels of Kirupp are a group of little angels recognized in Judaism and Christianity. These angels, who guard the glory of God and inspire people to pursue more spiritual growth in their lives, are the angels of the Bible. Specifically in Christian paintings, the angelic level is also more hierarchical, and I will write a story to talk about when I have time.
Cupid in Greek mythology
As for the mention of Cupid, known in Greek mythology as Eros, one of the earliest authors of Eros was Hesiod, who described Eros in the Genealogy of gods as one of the primordial cosmic gods born from the world. Armed with a bow and arrow and a quiver, he used golden arrows to evoke love and desire, lead arrows igniting disgust, mischievously hitting the hearts of gods and mortals, playing with their emotions.
Plate with Eros; 340-320 BC; red-figure terracotta; 5 × 24.4 cm; Walters Art Museum (Baltimore, US)
Cupid represents love in Roman mythology
In ancient Roman mythology, Cupid Cupid, like Eros in Greek mythology, was the son of Venus, the goddess of love. Stories from Greek mythology were later retelled by Roman writers, and the tragic story of Apollo and Daphne was written by a mandarin duck that originated with Cupid.
In the mythological story, Cupid shoots a golden arrow at Apollo, making him fall madly in love with the fairy Daphne Daphne, but then shoots a lead arrow at Daphne, and finally Daphne in fear willingly becomes a laurel tree, and many painters and sculptors have used this as inspiration to make immortal masterpieces.
Apollo chasing Daphne,Cornelis de Vos
Apollo and Daphne (Versailles),René-Antoine Houasse
Renaissance art influenced cupid's image
During the Renaissance, artists used various mythological stories to symbolize love. The famous Italian Renaissance painter Raphael and his contemporaries created a character called "Putti Putti", representing the existence of pure love with a toddler baby boy and waving its wings like an angel. These figures were originally called "amorini" and eventually evolved into "putti", a word derived from the Latin putus, meaning "boy".
The Voyage of Galatea，Raphael
During the Renaissance, many artists began to include several cupids in a painting. Such angelic children can be found in many mythological and even biblical painting scenes from this period.
Spring ,Botticelli
Cupid's image in art also changed around this time, and he was no longer the image of a young man, but was depicted as a baby or a little boy. Soon, artists also began to give the wings of angels to Cupid, depicting their flying images. People began to refer to the images of Putty and Cupid collectively as "little angels" because they were associated with pure love in love.
Baroque period BAROQUE
During the Baroque period, artists continued to incorporate Cupid into their mythological style paintings. However, unlike the Renaissance amorini and putti, the images of Cupid painted by Baroque artists appear more playful, emphasizing their youthful cuteness and downplaying the divine role and power of Cupid.
The Feast of Venus，Peter Paul Rubens
Venus and Cupid (Sleeping Venus)，Artemisia Gentileschi
Cupid in a Landscape，Il Sodoma
Rococo period
Rococo artists also embraced this expression of Cupid. This is particularly evident in the paintings of French artist François Boucher.
The Toilette of Venus，François Boucher
Diana and Cupid，Pompeo Batoni
Although Cupid is naughty, many stories are at the behest of his mother Venus, of course, in one of the stories, Cupid also met his own love, fell in love with the mortal beauty girl Psyche, and became a couple, which is also mentioned in my other public account, interested in reading this article. In the paintings of this story, Cupid usually appears as a young man.
Cupid and Psyche，Baron Francois Gerard
Cupid Psyche end，Gerard Francois Pascal Simon
When cupid is mentioned as a young man, he sometimes wears the armor of Mars, the god of war, in the painting, perhaps to hint at the ironic similarities between war and romance, or to symbolize the invincibility of love.
Victorian era
During the Victorian era in the 19th century, couples exchanged exquisite lace-edged cards on Valentine's Day, expressing their immortal love and devotion with emotion and poetry. This angelic version of cupid's symbol also gave the holiday a romantic color and continues this image to this day.
Cupid and Psyche ，Sir Edward Burne-Jones
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