

The present work reflects the prominence of allegorical and classicising subjects within Lanzirotti's oeuvre. Among his other allegorical works are Amore Punito, La Follia, La Pensierosa, La Schiava Greca, and his playful Blind Love, sold in these rooms on 13 December 2000, lot 173. In the present figure, the touching representation is gently eroticised by Psyche's exposed breast, the chaste kiss that Cupid plants on her forehead, and the meeting of the figures' hands. The subject of Cupid and Psyche was popular during the late 18th and 19th centuries, treated most famously in the late 18th century by Antonio Canova. See his depiction of the standing figures, in the Louvre (inv. no. M.R. 1776), which re-imagined the antique figure in the Capitoline Museum to create a coolly elegant yet intimate composition. Canova's artwork undoubtedly paved the way for Lanzirotti's portrayal half a century later.
RELATED LITERATURE
A. Panzetta, Nuovo Dizionario degli Scultori Italiani dell'Ottocento e del Primo Novocento, vol.1, Torino, 2003, p. 513; V. Vicario, Gli Scultori Italiani dal Neoclassicismo al Liberty, vol.2, Lodi, 1994, p. 598-99