Landscape with Psyche outside the Palace of Cupid ('The Enchanted Castle')

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Threatened with marriage to a monster Psyche, a mortal, is blown away by the West Wind. She awakens near a magical palace and falls in love with Cupid. He makes Psyche promise not to look at his divine face, but she breaks this promise and Cupid abandons her. The subject of this painting is taken from Apuleius' Metamorphoses. Psyche sits in the foreground, deep in thought or melancholy. Claude perhaps shows the moment before Psyche meets Cupid rather than when he leaves her. Alternatively, this scene may represent another episode in the story when Psyche is alone, when her two jealous sisters leave after persuading her to murder Cupid. The two figures in the boat on the right are perhaps her sisters. Cupid’s enchanted castle combines architecture seen by Claude in and around Rome with the imaginary: the grand exterior of a townhouse or palazzo is attached to circular towers and ruins.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Landscape with Psyche outside the Palace of Cupid ('The Enchanted Castle')

Date

1664

Medium

Oil on canvas

Measurements

H 87.1 x W 151.3 cm

Accession number

NG6471

Acquisition method

Bought with contributions from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and The Art Fund, 1981

Work type

Painting

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