Cupid Complaining to Venus (c. 1540–46): Art, History and Details

Cupid Complaining to Venus (c. 1540–46) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Peter Flötner (German, 1485–1546).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This plaquette interprets an ancient Greek poem by Theocritus. Having been stung by a swarm of bees after attempting to steal their honey, Cupid sought refuge in the arms of his mother Venus, the goddess of love. Surprised that such small creatures could cause such great pain, Venus reminded Cupid, that like the sting of a bee, love’s arrow could be dangerous.

Object facts

• Title: Cupid Complaining to Venus
• Date: c. 1540–46
• Creator attribution: Peter Flötner (German, 1485–1546)
• Culture: Germany, Nuremberg
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: lead
• Dimensions: Overall: 6.8 x 9.2 cm (2 11/16 x 3 5/8 in.)
• Collection: Sculpture
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1984.15

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1984.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 2 (April 1985): 163–207.
• Winter, Patrick M. de. “Recent Accessions of Italian Renaissance Decorative Arts, Part II.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 73, no. 4 (April 1986): 142–182.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.