The young Cupid leans on his left leg, his arms raised to balance himself. From his back, little wings are deployed. He looks as though he is about to take flight. However, his face is contorted, as if in great pain. But where has it come from?
To find out, we must look closely at Idrac's sculpture to note the presence of a small insect, sat on Cupid's right foot. It is a bee, whose sting can be very painful.
We must sympathise with Cupid's fate, even if it is deserved … In Roman mythology, if a mortal is touched by one of Cupid's arrows, they will immediately fall in love with the first person they see. The sculptor Idrac therefore chose to restore justice!
The subject also allows the sculptor to demonstrate all his great skill, giving his figure a complex attitude. With grace and delicacy, he successfully represents a suspended moment, like a freeze frame.
In form, Cupid's physiognomy is inspired by the works of Donatello, whose talent Idrac had the chance to admire during his trips to the Villa Medici, between 1873 and 1877.
Detail: In addition to his bee sting, the young Cupid has placed his other foot on a rose. What bad luck!
The young Cupid leans on his left leg, his arms raised to balance himself. From his back, little wings are deployed. He looks as though he is about to take flight. However, his face is contorted, as if in great pain. But where has it come from?
To find out, we must look closely at Idrac's sculpture to note the presence of a small insect, sat on Cupid's right foot. It is a bee, whose sting can be very painful.
We must sympathise with Cupid's fate, even if it is deserved … In Roman mythology, if a mortal is touched by one of Cupid's arrows, they will immediately fall in love with the first person they see. The sculptor Idrac therefore chose to restore justice!
The subject also allows the sculptor to demonstrate all his great skill, giving his figure a complex attitude. With grace and delicacy, he successfully represents a suspended moment, like a freeze frame.
In form, Cupid's physiognomy is inspired by the works of Donatello, whose talent Idrac had the chance to admire during his trips to the Villa Medici, between 1873 and 1877.
Detail: In addition to his bee sting, the young Cupid has placed his other foot on a rose. What bad luck!
