Love Awakened by a Kiss: Canova's Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss

Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss is the work of Antonio Canova, widely regarded as one of Italy's greatest sculptors. In pursuit of an ideal of absolute human beauty, Canova reportedly worked in stages — sketching the composition first, then modeling it roughly in clay, then in plaster, before finally turning to marble.

The sculpture is drawn from a story by the ancient Roman writer Apuleius. The winged figure is Cupid, the god of love (known as Eros in Greek mythology), and the woman he's kissing is his wife, Psyche. Venus, the goddess of beauty, grew so jealous of the mortal princess Psyche's stunning looks that she ordered her son Cupid to punish her — but Cupid instead fell hopelessly in love with Psyche at first sight and secretly married her. There was one condition, though: Psyche could never look upon her husband's face. Egged on by her jealous sisters, she finally lit a candle at night to see him — and accidentally spilled hot wax on him. Startled awake, Cupid was furious that she'd broken their agreement and left her.

Determined to win him back, Psyche completed four seemingly impossible trials set by her mother-in-law, Venus. This sculpture captures the moment from the final trial, when Psyche falls into a deathlike sleep and Cupid revives her with a kiss. Because it's carved from pure white marble, the sculpture's expression shifts remarkably depending on how the light strikes it, offering a slightly different impression depending on the hour you happen to see it.