Cupid

In front of a wavy sea and stormy skies, a little boy with fair curly hair and tiny wings reclines against a rock. His toes are curled against the earth as if about to spring into action. He delicately holds a golden feathered arrow plucked from the blue quiver which lies beneath him, alongside his bow. The influential Roman poet Ovid (43BCE – 17CE) portrayed Cupid, the God of Love, as a naughty and spiteful boy, willfully causing mayhem by firing his arrows of desire into Gods and mortals alike. Smiling mischievously, this Cupid is perhaps looking for his next recipient. Often depicted in attendance or alongside his mother Venus, this painting is unusual in depicting Cupid alone, his reclining form filling the entire surface of the canvas.  

Cupid is the work of artist and art dealer Francis Bourgeois (1753-1811), one of the founders of Dulwich Picture Gallery.  In 1787, Bourgeois became an associate artist of the Royal Academy in London, later graduating to a full member in 1793. In 1791, he was appointed painter to the King of Poland, Stanislaus Augustus (1732-98), while later receiving the title of landscape painter to King George III (1738–1820) in 1794. This painting of Cupid has suffered historic damage, most noticeable in the vertical scratch on the left-hand side.