Sleeping Cupid (Caravaggio)

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Sleeping Cupid
Italian: Amorino dormiente
Caravaggio sleeping cupid.jpg
Artist Caravaggio
Year1608
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions72 cm× 105 cm(28 in× 41 in)
Location Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina, Florence

Sleeping Cupid is a painting by the Italian master Caravaggio. Unlike many of Caravaggio's works, it can be dated accurately. It was commissioned for Fra Francesco dell'Antella, Florentine Secretary for Italy to Alof de Wignacourt, Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, and an old inscription on the back records that it was painted in Malta in 1608. [1]

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The subject of a sleeping Cupid, bowstring broken and arrows cast aside, usually signifies the abandonment of worldly pleasures, and dell'Antella may have commissioned it as a reminder of his vow of chastity. [1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Sleeping Cupid, 1608 by Caravaggio". Caravaggio.org. Retrieved January 13, 2024.

Secondary sources