Psyche and Love is a painting by François Gérard from 1798. It depicts a scene from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, where the god of love, Eros, kisses the beautiful Psyche for the first time, whom he has abducted and hidden in his palace. This work, preserved in the Louvre Museum, illustrates the painter’s romantic style and his interest in mythological subjects.
Historical context
François Gérard (1770-1837) was a French painter who belonged to the romantic movement. He trained at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, where he was a student of Jacques-Louis David. He won the Rome Prize in 1789 but could not go to Italy because of the French Revolution. He became known at the Salon of 1791 with his painting Belisarius receiving alms, which earned him praise from critics and the public. Psyche and Love was exhibited at the Salon of 1798, where it was a great success.
The mythological subject
Psyche and Love depicts an episode from Book IV of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a collection of poems that tells of the transformations of gods and men in Greek mythology. According to Ovid’s account, Psyche is a young girl of such extraordinary beauty that she arouses admiration in men and jealousy in Venus, the goddess of love. She charges her son Eros with making her fall in love with the vilest of mortals. But Eros accidentally pricks himself with one of his arrows and falls in love with Psyche himself. He abducts her and hides her in his invisible palace, where he visits her every night without showing himself to her. He makes her promise never to try to see his face or she will lose him forever.
Gérard chooses to depict the moment when Psyche receives Eros’ first kiss, who has just awakened her love with his magic arrow. He softens Ovid’s account by removing the dramatic and mysterious aspects of the story. Instead, he highlights the tenderness and sensuality of the characters. Psyche appears as an innocent and ravishing young girl who awakens to love with wonderment. Eros is a seductive and passionate young man who leans towards her gently. A winged love plays with a bow and arrows at their feet, symbolizing divine love.
Interpretation
Psyche and Love is a painting that illustrates Gérard’s romantic style. Romanticism is an artistic movement that developed at the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century in reaction to neoclassicism which was considered too cold and rigid. Romantics were inspired by personal feelings and human passions through their works.
Gérard follows romantic principles by adopting a free and asymmetrical composition where characters are arranged along an ascending diagonal. He uses bright and contrasting colors that create a luminous and warm atmosphere. He takes care with expressive and carnal details on bodies reminiscent of Italian or Flemish paintings. He creates an intimate and moving atmosphere that confers humanity on characters.
Gérard also expresses his personal sensitivity in his painting. He does not simply reproduce Ovid’s text faithfully but adds his own interpretation. He transforms the fantastic story into a realistic scene where love triumphs over obstacles. He shows that even gods are subject to human feelings and can be touched by beauty or virtue of a mortal. He suggests that love is a universal force that unites heaven and earth.
Psyche and Love is therefore a painting that testifies to Gérard’s talent as a romantic painter but also as a poet capable of reinventing mythology in his own way.”
