Omnia Vincit Amor

Love conquers all; one of Virgil’s crispest and subject of much verse and prose. It could be the subtitle of many books by PG Wodehouse.

In art Cupid symbolises love; is an allegory depicting love. It has been a subject irresistible to artists over centuries. Three of the best are on show near you, if you live around London.

”This is one of Bronzino’s most complex and enigmatic paintings. It contains a tangle of moral messages, presented in a sexually explicit image. Venus, goddess of love, steals an arrow from her son Cupid’s quiver as she kisses him on the lips. Cupid fondles Venus‘ breast, his bare buttocks provocatively thrust out as he returns her kiss and attempts to steal her crown.

The masks at Venus’ feet suggest that she and Cupid exploit lust to mask deception. The howling figure on the left may be Jealousy; the boy scattering roses and stepping on a thorn could be Folly or Pleasure; the hybrid creature with the face of a girl, Fraud or Deceit. Winged Father Time battles with mask-like Oblivion to either reveal or conceal the scene.

The picture was probably sent to King Francis I of France as a gift from Cosimo I de’ Medici, ruler of Florence, who employed Bronzino as a court painter.” National Gallery.

Cupid stands on top of a lion, exuding confidence and overpowering the animal. He represents the power of love to conquer all. It was restored rather well about twenty years ago by an expert at the National Gallery who, as it happens, cleaned one of my pictures years ago.

Usually you would have to go to Berlin to see Caravaggio’s Victorious Cupid but it is on loan to The Wallace Collection until April.

“Cupid stands with wings spread, arrows in hand and with a playful smile, surrounded by the fallen symbols of human achievement.” The Wallace Collection.

“The full-frontal menace of Caravaggio’s boldest painting creates one of art’s most unsettling encounters. Cupid is a real youth, modelled, it was said in the 17th century, after his own boyfriend ‘that lay with him’.” Other commentators claim that the boy in the picture is the artist’s apprentice, Cecco, who like Caravaggio, was involved in violent misdemeanours.” Jonathan Jones in The Guardian.

While it is worth going to The Wallace Collection to see one picture it is a pity the curator didn’t borrow the other two. Now for a bit of fun, albeit a print, that cost someone $30,000 at Christie’s about ten years ago.

“Love conquers all; let us, too, yield to love!” Virgil.