The Art of Valentine's Day
Works highlighting love, romance and desire over the years
Pair of lovers, with Cupid to the right
RCIN 903456
Cupid, the often mischievous God of Love, has been associated with romantic entanglements since the classical period. In the classical tradition any person pierced by Cupid’s arrows would be consumed by passion and fall uncontrollably in love. During the Renaissance Cupid became a popular symbolic figure, and was used to represent romance.
In this black chalk drawing from the School of Guido Reni Bologna (1575–1642), Cupid is shown holding his famous bow and arrows, however he is merely a symbolic figure here as the two lovers to the left are already locked in an embrace.