Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss

This sculpture is by Antonio Canova — one of the greatest Italian sculptors of all time.

Canova pursued absolute beauty.

The beauty to which human beings should aspire. And I think he achieved it here.

It's made in white marble.

But Canova didn't start directly in marble. First he made a drawing. Then a clay maquette. Then a plaster version. And only then moved on to the final marble.

That's why he has so many works in marble —

and that's why each one has that extraordinary finish.

This is considered his most beautiful work. It's based on a novel by the Roman writer Apuleius.

The winged figure is Eros.

In Greek mythology he's called Eros, in Roman mythology Cupid — the one with the bow and arrows.

They're the same figure.

Here we'll call him Eros.

And the woman he's kissing is Psyche. They're husband and wife.

Even though in paintings Eros always appears as a small boy with a bow and arrows, he was a married man. Married to Psyche.

Psyche was a princess from a distant kingdom. So beautiful that Venus herself — goddess of beauty — felt envy toward her.

Venus sent her son Eros to make Psyche fall in love with the ugliest man in the world.

But when Eros went to find her, he fell in love with her at first sight.

They decided to get married.

But with one condition:

Psyche could never see her husband's face.

They only saw each other at night, in total darkness.

One day, Psyche's sisters convinced her. "How can you not want to see your own husband's face?"

That night, Psyche lit a candle while Eros slept.

And what she saw left her speechless. He was extraordinarily handsome.

So much so that she stood there paralyzed staring at him — and accidentally let hot wax fall on his shoulder!

Eros woke up! He saw she had broken her promise. And he left.

Psyche went out to find him.

She went to Venus and asked for help. Venus gave her four impossible tasks.

Psyche completed them all.

And when she reached the last one, she fell into a deep sleep — almost death. Eros found her. And he woke her with a kiss. That is exactly what you see here. That moment.

One last thing. This sculpture changes with the light. In the morning it looks one way. In the afternoon, another.

The white marble captures light differently at every hour of the day. Depending on when you've arrived, you're seeing a different version of this very same work.

Whenever you are ready, we will move on