JOHN GIBSON | CUPID DISGUISED AS A SHEPHERD BOY

Marquesses of Crewe, Crewe Hall, Cheshire;

by family descent to the present owner

The Welsh born sculptor John Gibson was the last great Neoclassical sculptor. The inspiration for his Cupid Disguised as a Shepherd Boy is said to have come to him in a dream in which Cupid appeared and exhorted the sculptor to give his statue celestial cover (Matthews, op. cit., pp. 75-78, 242). The model is recorded by Eastlake in Gibson's own words: 'Love disguised as a Shepherd, in his Greek hat and little cloak. The potent god, while slyly concealing behind his back the arrow of soft tribulations, advances his right hand as if to inspire confidence, and assumes an air of modesty and timidity. Below the edge of his mantle behind are just seen the tips of his folded wings' (op. cit., pp. 75-76, 250). Gibson was fascinated by the idea of Cupid as personification of celestial love, a theme often seen in Neoclassical sculpture, in particular the work of Thorvaldsen. Gibson's Cupid and Pysche, one of his most famous models, was acquired by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and is now at Osborne House (inv. no. RCIN 41062). The present model proved to be popular, with eight documented repetitions, including versions made for Tsar Nicholas I of Russia and Sir Robert Peel.

RELATED LITERATURE

E. Rigby Eastlake, Life of John Gibson, Sculptor, London, 1870, reprinted 2010; T. Matthews, The Biography of John Gibson, R.A., Sculptor, Rome, London, 1911