Canova, Antonio (1757-1822) Amore e Psiche che si abbracciano (Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss) 1787–1793 Marble, 155 x 168 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris See also: • Apuleius (c.124-c.170): Psyche et Cupido (Latin)
Michelangelo (1475-1564) Battaglia dei centauri (Battle of the Centaurs) 1490–1492 Marble bas-relief, 84.5 x 88 cm Casa Buonarroti, Firenze The earliest mention of the Battle of the Centaurs is to be found in a letter written in…
Michelangelo (1475-1564) Madonna della Scala (Madonna of the Stairs) c.1490 Marble bas-relief, 56.7 x 40.1 cm Casa Buonarroti, Firenze The Madonna della scala, or Madonna of the Stairs, of which no mention was made during Michelangelo’s lifetime, was cited for the…
Michelangelo (1475-1564) Pietà 1498–1499 Carrara marble, 174 x 195 cm San Pietro, Vaticano Michelangelo‘s only signature, carved across the Virgin’s sash: “Michael. Agelus. Bonarotus Florent Faciebat”. See also: Turner, Joseph (1775-1851) A Copy of Michelangelo’s Pieta 1827 Tate Britain, London
Tiziano (c.1488-1576) Amor sacro e amor profano (Sacred and Profane Love) 1515–1516 Oil on canvas, 118 x 278 cm Galleria Borghese, Roma This work was probably sold to Scipione Borghese in 1608 by Cardinal Paolo Emilio Sfondrati. A veritable interpretative enigma, critics…
Bernini, Gian Lorenzo (1598-1680) Il Ratto di Proserpina (The Rape of Proserpina) 1621–1622 Marble, 255 cm Galleria Borghese, Roma The work portrays the abduction of Proserpine by Pluto, god of the underworld. Narrated by both Claudian and Ovid, the myth tells…