Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss: Canova's Sculpture

Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss shows the moment when Eros (Love, or Cupid to the Romans) brings Psyche, who had fallen into a deathly sleep, back to life with a kiss. This Cupid and Psyche statue is a white marble group by Antonio Canova, commissioned in 1787 and finished in 1793, and it stands in room 403 (Michelangelo Gallery) of the Denon wing, level 0, at the Louvre Museum.

What does Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss depict?

It depicts the happy ending of the myth: Psyche, lying down, comes back to life, and Eros, wings spread, holds her and leans toward her. Canova chose the moment just before the kiss, with Psyche’s arms forming a circle that frames the two faces.

The Louvre highlights the movement in particular: Canova composed the scene almost like a choreography, and that sense of turning is what still draws visitors in. That is why it is worth walking around the sculpture; seen from behind, the museum says, the embracing couple conveys an almost contemporary emotion.

What is the myth of Cupid and Psyche?

The myth has come down to us through Apuleius, in The Metamorphoses, better known as The Golden Ass. This is the summary given by Spanish Wikipedia:

1. Aphrodite (Venus) envies the beauty of Psyche, a young mortal, and sends her son Eros to make her fall in love with the most repulsive man in the kingdom.
2. Eros falls in love with her himself. To hide her from his mother he visits her only in the dark, and Psyche falls in love with him without seeing his face.
3. One night Psyche lights a lamp to look at him; a drop of oil falls on Eros, who wakes up and leaves her.
4. Psyche searches for him all the way to the underworld, where she opens a box containing the “Stygian sleep” and falls into a coma-like state.
5. Eros finds her and wakes her with a kiss. This is the moment Canova sculpted.

What does the kiss of Cupid and Psyche mean?

Spanish Wikipedia reads the work as an interpretation of the drive of Eros: the force that unites body and soul through passionate love. In the story, the kiss closes a quest: Psyche loses Eros by wanting to see him and wins him back after going down to the underworld to find him.

That is the most widespread reading; like any allegory, it allows others. What is a fact is Canova’s choice: he did not sculpt the wedding or the lamp, but the awakening.

Who sculpted it and when?

It was sculpted by Antonio Canova (Possagno, 1757 – Venice, 1822), the Neoclassical sculptor. These are its details:

Fact	Detail
Artist	Antonio Canova
Date	commissioned 1787, finished 1793
Material	white marble
Dimensions	155 cm high, 168 cm long, 101 cm deep
Commissioned by	British colonel John Campbell
Inventory number	MR 1777
Location	room 403 (Michelangelo Gallery), Denon wing, level 0

The work had several owners before it reached the museum. According to the photo archive of the Réunion des musées nationaux, Joachim Murat acquired it in 1801 for his château at Villiers, it passed to Napoleon I in 1808, stood in the Palace of Compiègne from 1809 to 1822 and entered the Louvre in 1822. Canova sculpted a second version, finished in 1796 on a commission from Nikolai Yusupov, which is now in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

Where is Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss in the Louvre?

It is in room 403, the Michelangelo Gallery, in the Denon wing, level 0 (ground floor). According to the museum’s own trail, you will find it on the right, near the window, just before the exit of the room. Louvre-Lens holds another work by Canova on the same myth, with the couple standing.

The Michelangelo Gallery is in the Denon wing, the same wing as the Mona Lisa and the Winged Victory of Samothrace, so it fits easily into a route through the main masterpieces; to see which other pieces are worth your time on this level, see the Louvre sculptures. If you want a calm visit with commentary, the Louvre private tour is for your group only, up to 6 people, lasts 2.5 hours and costs from $262.