Jacques-Louis DavidFrench, 1748–1825Cupid and Psyche
May one see it?
Yes, receiving visitors
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Room201 Neoclassical Painting & SculptureCleveland, United States
On public display.
- Checked
- 3 days ago
- In this state since
- Sep 28, 2026
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
About the painting
Love and Psyche or Cupid and Psyche is an 1817 painting by Jacques-Louis David, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art. It shows Cupid and Psyche. It was produced during David's exile in Brussels, for the patron and collector Gian Battista Sommariva. On its first exhibition at the museum in Brussels, it surprised viewers with its realist treatment of the figure of Cupid. Critics generally saw the painting's unconventional style and realistic depiction of Cupid as proof of David's decline while in exile, but art historians have come to see the work as a deliberate departure from traditional methods of representing mythological figures.
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1962.37
In the catalog
Comings and goings
On view · 201 Neoclassical Painting & Sculpture
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Sep 28, 2026 — now · Verified
Was on view · 201 French Neoclassical Painting & Sculpture
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Aug 19, 2026 — Sep 28, 2026 · Verified
Sources
- The Cleveland Museum of Art: the museum's own open data · fetched 3 days ago
- Image: The Cleveland Museum of Art — Museum open access
Meanwhile, in the life of Jacques-Louis David
The whole life1815
Flees to Switzerland after Waterloo
After Bonaparte’s defeat at Waterloo and the Bourbon restoration he was forced to flee to Switzerland; in August of the same year he returned to France.
1815
Napoleon visits David during the Hundred Days
During the Hundred Days Napoleon visited the painter and awarded him the commander’s cross of the Legion of Honour.
1816
Exile: moves to Brussels
Exiled from France for his part in the king’s execution, despite the intercession of the police minister Élie Decazes, he settled in Brussels, where he lived for the rest of his life.
1816–1825
The Brussels years: pupils and smaller works
He trained and influenced Brussels artists such as François-Joseph Navez and Ignace Brice, painted “Cupid and Psyche,” smaller mythological scenes, portraits of Brussels citizens and Napoleonic émigrés, and, towards the end of his life, a portrait of his old friend Abbé Sieyès.
