Parmigianino (1503-1540)
Cupido che fabbrica l’arco (Bowcarving Cupid)
1534–1539
Oil on lime, 135.5 × 65 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
The inspiration for this painting may have come from a sculpture that Parmigianino may have seen in the Grimani Collection in Venice in 1530. In fact, Eros/Cupid stands before us like a painted sculpture. The theme probably goes back to late antique ideas, in which Eros, Himeros (desire) and Pothos (longing) form an erotic triad. In the Renaissance, it is redefined as heavenly and earthly love. Parmigianino comments on the difficulty of deciding between these two forms of love. (KHM)