Last Friday at the Art Institute I saw this painting, by Bartolomeo Manfredi, called Cupid Chastised. I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since then, and I’m probably going to buy a print of it soon. It’s really rare that an image of any kind strikes me this way.

It was clear that the winged one on the floor is cupid. I did not realize until I was reading about the painting earlier that the woman is Venus, and the man is Mars. It seems there is a difference of opinion on what exactly is taking place. A few sources indicate that Mars is beating Cupid at the instruction of Venus, possibly because of his disobedience in courting Psyche. Others indicate that Mars entered to find Venus and Cupid in an embrace, and was so incensed he began to beat Cupid.

I don’t have time to find a copy of Golden Ass and look up the actual scene that is supposed to be depicted, but it’s definitely something I’ll be looking for in the not too distant future.

As far as the image itself goes, there is an unavoidable sexual energy that emenates from it, perhaps most noticable in the expressions on the faces of the figures. Cupid seems torm between pain and pleasure (a state I know well). Venus seems concerned, but not angry or scared. It’s interesting to note that she’s holding one of Cupids arrows in her hand. Mars is fixated on Cupid, intensely focused on his goal. I don’t know much about art, but this doesn’t speak to me, it sings to me. It inspires me, which is something that I think is core to the meaning of art, for me at least.