A Boating Party c. 1527-8
Oil on panel | 29.5 x 151.0 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 402871
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The story of Cupid and Psyche comes from Chapter vii of Apuleius’s 'Golden Ass'. The episode illustrated here shows a boat holding a girl and two satyrs, one blowing a horn; it is pulled along a bank by two girls in flowing robes on the left. This ornamental frieze by Polidoro da Caravaggio forms part of a series of nine panels, made up of three large scenes from the story of Cupid and Psyche and six narrow friezes. They are first recorded when acquired in 1637 by Charles I. There is no documentation of the original commission and no way of telling if the set of nine is complete, although the three Psyche scenes make what could be a stand-alone group of highlights from the story. The panels are obviously decorative and were probably painted in situ for an item of furniture or the panelling of a room; they were perhaps part of the decoration of a bed, the love story of Cupid and Psyche being an appropriate subject for a bedchamber.
Provenance
Acquired by Charles I in 1637; recorded in the Second Privy Lodging Room at Whitehall in 1639 (no 13); sold as a set of six for £140 to Hadnott on 17 May 1650; recovered at the Restoration and listed in the Green Chamber at Whitehall in 1666 (no 251)
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Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on panel
Measurements
29.5 x 151.0 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
40.0 x 159.7 x 5.8 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
Women towing a boat