Cupid complaining to Venus

Cupid complaining to Venus

Cupid, the god of erotic love, is complaining to his mother, Venus, the goddess of love: he has been stung by bees after stealing a honeycomb. Venus directs her attention towards the viewer instead. Her narrowed gaze appears flirtatious and she clutches the branch of an apple tree, evocative of the biblical temptress Eve.

This is a morality tale, based on a Greek poem from the third century BC – though Venus wears a velvet hat and jewelled choker in the style of those worn at the Saxon court where Cranach worked from 1505. The poem describes how life’s pleasures are mixed with pain, as the inscription at the top of the painting observes. Venus explains to her son that the wounds of love he inflicts with his arrows are far worse than any physical pain he may be experiencing.