Many paintings in the National Gallery are straightforward illustrations of the well-known myths, stories lost in the mists of time with no known author, even if, from time to time, we know about them from the way a particular writer has told the story. In other cases the Gods and Goddesses become metaphors, carrying ideas with them to communicate lines of thought through allegorical representation. There is not necessarily a ‘story’ to be told, but a concept that is being communicated.
Starting with the ‘myths’ we will look at the types of meanings stories were used to convey – particularly because these are pagan stories being told for a predominantly Christian audience.
But in some cases, we are dealing with a ‘simple’ story: one of these – the story of Psyche and Cupid – will form the focus of the second half of this talk. Whatever its mythical sources, the fantastic nature of Apuleius’s storytelling made this a popular story, illustrated by a number of artists across the centuries.
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| Giulio Romano, The Birth of Bacchus, 1530s Getty Center, Los Angeles. |
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| Agnolo Bronzino, An Allegory with Venus and Cupid, about 1545 The National Gallery, London. |
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| Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, An Allegory with Venus and Time, about 1754-8 The National Gallery, London. |
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| Workshop of Raphael, The Story of Psyche, 1518. Villa Farnesina, Rome. |
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| Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Psyche showing her Sisters her Gifts from Cupid, 1753 National Gallery, London. |
