Cupid, the ubiquitous symbol of romance and desire, has transitioned across millennia from a powerful, primal deity in ancient Greece to his contemporary role as a commercial mascot, reflecting profound shifts in Western society’s understanding of love, spirituality, and sexuality. Tracing this figure’s journey through art history illuminates how different civilizations have visually interpreted the fundamental human experience of attraction, perpetually reinventing the god known first as Eros and later as the Roman Cupid.
The figure’s origins lie in Greek mythology, where the earliest accounts depict Eros not as a playful child, but as an elemental force of creation—one of the first entities to emerge from Chaos, representing the vital cosmic drive for union. By the Classical period, however, the mythology softened, recasting Eros as the handsome, winged son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, distinguishing him with the bow and arrows that could inflict unavoidable passion.
Transformation from Deity to Cherub
The crucial transition occurred when the Greeks’ Eros was adopted by the Romans, who referred to him as Cupid, derived from the Latin “cupido” meaning desire. Initially retaining the adolescent appearance, Roman representation gradually favored a younger, more innocent aesthetic. This shift laid the groundwork for the most prevalent portrayal: the chubby child.
The enduring narrative that solidified Cupid’s image was the Roman-era tale of Cupid and Psyche, preserved in Apuleius’s Metamorphoses. This story, symbolizing the human soul’s journey toward divine love, became a favored motif across subsequent artistic movements.
During the Hellenistic period (323–31 BCE), artists increased the trend toward juvenility, commonly depicting multiple Erotes (the plural of Eros) as cherubic, sometimes corpulent, infants engaged in various activities. These playful figures directly foreshadowed the putti (cherubs) that became standard in the Renaissance.
Revival Through the Renaissance and Baroque
The medieval era largely distanced itself from what Christian theology viewed as pagan figures, yet Cupid persisted as an allegorical device in courtly love literature. The Renaissance saw a passionate revival of classical learning, positioning Cupid firmly back into the center of art. Figures like Sandro Botticelli utilized the god to fuse classical mythology with contemporary Neoplatonic philosophy, where love was an elevating, divine force.
The Baroque period (1600–1750) embraced Cupid with theatrical intensity. Artists such as Caravaggio and Peter Paul Rubens showcased him in dramatic, often highly sensual works that emphasized the conquering and volatile nature of passion over reason. This emphasis on emotion and movement aligned perfectly with the era’s dramatic aesthetic.
The 18th-century Rococo style offered lighter, more decorative interpretations. French painters, including François Boucher, rendered Cupid as a mischievous, elegant child inhabiting aristocratic dalliances and pastoral scenes, perfectly embodying the period’s focus on pleasure and charm.
Modern Decline and Reappropriation
Although the Neoclassical movement restored some gravitas to the figure—exemplified by Antonio Canova’s graceful sculpture Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss—the 19th and 20th centuries witnessed Cupid’s relegation from high art.
“The rise of modernism shifted artistic focus away from classical mythology, leaving Cupid primarily associated with commercial imagery, particularly Valentine’s Day,” says Dr. Eleanor Vance, a professor of art history specializing in classical iconography. “He morphed from representing a fundamental cosmic force to signifying sentimental, often superficial, romance.”
In contemporary art, Cupid rarely appears as a serious, symbolic subject. Instead, he is frequently employed ironically or subversively by artists like Banksy to critique consumerism or romantic clichés. This modern reinterpretation confirms the figure’s enduring visibility in the collective cultural consciousness, albeit with a significantly diminished theological or artistic weight.
Cupid’s attributes—the bow and arrows symbolizing love’s unpredictable strike, and the Medieval-introduced blindfold signifying love’s irrationality—remain instantly recognizable. His artistic journey serves as a compelling visual record of humanity’s evolving, and often conflicting, attitudes toward desire, from primordial necessity to modern iconography.