An Allegory with Venus and Cupid

Venus kisses Cupid while taking an arrow from him. He reaches towards her crown. The exchange between the goddess of love and her son combines affection, desire and attempted theft within a tightly crowded scene. Bronzino, a court painter in Florence, made this elaborate image around 1545. It was probably intended as a gift for Francis I of France, though its early history remains uncertain. An educated court audience could try to unravel its meanings as well as admire its brilliant finish. Look at the masks near Venus’s feet and the boy scattering roses. A thorn pierces his foot, while the creature behind him has a girl’s face and a stranger body. These figures have been interpreted as pleasure, folly and deceit. Their exact identities are debated. Above them, a winged old man usually identified as Time handles the cloth over the group. Whether the scene is being revealed or concealed remains part of the puzzle. The smooth, precise painting makes the bodies clear while leaving their moral relationships deliberately difficult.