Cupid (Michelangelo)

The Cupid was a sculpture created by Renaissance artist Michelangelo, which he artificially aged to make it look like an antique from the advice of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco. It was this sculpture which first brought him to the attention of patrons in Rome. The work is now lost.^[1]

Sleeping Cupid

In 1496, Michelangelo made a sleeping cupid figure and treated it with acidic earth to make it seem ancient. He then sold it to a dealer, Baldassare del Milanese, who in turn sold it to Cardinal Riario of San Giorgio who later learned of the fraud and demanded his money back. However, Michelangelo was permitted to keep his share of the money.^[2]^[3] When Michelangelo offered to take the sculpture back from Baldassarre, the latter refused, saying he would rather destroy it.^[4]

The Cupid was a significant work in establishing the reputation of the young Michelangelo, who was about 20 years old at the time.^[5] The sculpture was later donated by Cesare Borgia to Isabella d'Este, and was probably collected by Charles I of England when all the Gonzaga collections were bought and taken to London in the seventeenth century.^[2]

In 1698, the Cupid was probably destroyed in the great fire in the Palace of Whitehall, London.^[2]

Standing Cupid

Another sculpture of Cupid, in a standing position, was created for Riario's banker, Jacopo Galli.^[6]

References

↑ Entry on "Cupid," The Classical Tradition (Harvard University Press, 2010), p. 245; Stefania Macioe, "Caravaggio and the Role of Classical Models," in The Rediscovery of Antiquity: The Role of the Artist (Collegium Hyperboreum, 2003), pp. 437–438.
1 2 3 Sheila Gibson Stoodley (August 2008). "Misadventures in Collecting". Arts and Antiques.
↑ "Michelangelo's Cupid". Museum of Hoaxes. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
↑ Rona Goffen (2004). Renaissance rivals: Michelangelo, Leonardo, Rafael, Titian. Yale University Press. p. 409, note 83.
↑ Deborah Parker, Michelangelo and the Art of Letter Writing (Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 11; Rona Goffen, Renaissance Rivals: Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Titian (Yale University Press, 2002, 2004), p. 95.
↑ Umberto Baldini, Michelangelo scultore, Rizzoli, Milano 1973, pp. 90-91.

Michelangelo

List of works
Key: *Attributed, †Lost

Sculptures

Florence, c. 1488–1492	†Head of a Faun Madonna of the Stairs Battle of the Centaurs Crucifix

Bologna, 1494–1495	Additions to the Arca di San Domenico (St Petronius, St Proclus, Angel)

Rome, 1496–1500	†Sleeping Cupid Bacchus †Standing Cupid Pietà

Florence, 1501–1505	David Madonna of Bruges Additions to the Piccolomini Altarpiece (Saints Peter, Paul, Pius and Gregory) Pitti Tondo Taddei Tondo St. Matthew

Tomb of Pope Julius II, 1505–1545	Moses Rebellious Slave Dying Slave Young Slave Bearded Slave Atlas Slave Awakening Slave The Genius of Victory Rachel Leah

Florence, 1516–1534	Christ Carrying the Cross Medici Chapel Giuliano de' Medici Night Day Dusk Dawn Medici Madonna Apollo Crouching Boy

Rome, 1534–1564	Brutus Florentine Pietà *Palestrina Pietà Rondanini Pietà

Paintings

Panel paintings	The Torment of Saint Anthony Manchester Madonna The Entombment Doni Tondo †Leda and the Swan

Salone dei Cinquecento	†Battle of Cascina

Sistine Chapel	Ceiling The Last Judgment

Cappella Paolina	The Martyrdom of St Peter

Architecture

Florence	New Sacristy and Laurentian Library in the Basilica of San Lorenzo

Rome	Piazza del Campidoglio Palazzo Farnese St. Peter's Basilica San Giovanni dei Fiorentini Porta Pia Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri

Works on paper	Study of a Kneeling Nude Girl for The Entombment Epifania

Milieu	Cecchino dei Bracci Tommaso dei Cavalieri Vittoria Colonna Ascanio Condivi Gherardo Perini Sebastiano del Piombo Febo di Poggio Luigi del Riccio

Related	Art patronage of Julius II Casa Buonarroti Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects Replicas of David Replicas of the Pietà Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes

Wikimedia	Michelangelo at Wikimedia Commons Michelangelo at Wikiquote

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