Cupid Bent on his Bow, Italy 16th century

Cupid bent on his bow attributed to Polydore by Caravaggio.
Black and brown ink, wood-carved frame.
Italy.
ca. 1520-1524.
h. 14,9 in. ; w. 12,6 in.

Cupid bent on his bow attributed to Polidoro da Caravaggio, pupil of Raphael and associate of Giulio Romano.

Behind this drawing, at first sight a simple primo pensiero — the first step in the composition of many of the great masters of the Quattrocento and Cinquecento — lies one of Polidoro's most important works : the Cycle of Psyche, probably twelve panels, nine of which are known today, painted in the Palazzo Rota in Naples in 1524, panels that for the most part entered the collection of Charles I, King of England in the early 17th century. One of the most remarkable of these panels, Psyche received into Olympus, was subsequently acquired by the Earl of Brienne in 1662, and then by Jabach, before entering the collections of Louis XIV in 1683, thanks to whom it is now in the Louvre.

It is probably a sketch for the central part of the panel, showing Cupid, bent over his bow, at the centre of the procession of gods welcoming Psyche to Olympus. The lower part of Cupid’s body is exactly the same ; the general position of the body also corresponds to that of the painting, but the part surrounding the chest and the left arm differs slightly ; the upper part of Cupid has also been altered in the Louvre panel.

There is a similar drawing in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, attributed, not without reason, to Cherubino Alberti. The difference between the two drawings lies above all in the white highlights and hatching, typical of preparatory drawings for engravings by the great masters of the 16th century. Cherubino Alberti is also famous for his engraving of numerous winged putti, musicians and dancers, all taken from the painted works of Polidoro da Caravaggio, particularly from the frescoes at San Silvestro al Quirinale. Cherubino Alberti also engraved less ordinary drawings by Polidoro, including his designs for vases and decorative elements. Cherubino Alberti can be said to have been Polidoro's official engraver, and to have played a major role in disseminating his work throughout Europe.

Sources

Catalogue of valuable engravings including the remaining portion of the collection formed by the late Cedric Houghton, esq., … sold by auction by Messrs. Puttick and Simpson at 47, Leicester Square, London, W.C. on Friday, January 21st, 1916 at ten minutes past one o’clock precisely, London, 1916 ; A Catalogue. The Leonora Hall Gurley Collection of Drawings. Early Italian, Chicago, 1922 ; ‘The Gurley Collection of Drawings’, in Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago, vol. XVI, n° 2, Chicago, march-april 1922 ; Alessandro Marabottini, Polidoro da Caravaggio, Rome, 1969 ; Ciardi Dupré, Maria Grazia and al., « Polidoro da Caravaggio », in I pittori bergamaschi. Il Cinquecento, t. II, Bergame, 1976 ; Nicole Davos, ‘Ni Polidoro ni Peruzzi : Maturino’, in Revue de l’art, n°57, 1982 ; Martin Clayton, Raphael and his circle. Drawings from Windsor, London, 1999 ; Pierluigi Leone de Castris, Polidoro da Caravaggio. L’Opera completa, Naples, 2001 ; Dominique Cordellier, Polidoro da Caravaggio, Paris, 2007 ; Roberto Manescalchi, Cherubino Alberti. La Luce incisa, Florence, 2007.