Love in the Elysian Fields (1563): Art, History and Details

Love in the Elysian Fields (1563) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Giulio Bonasone (Italian, c. 1510–after 1576).

The work and its context

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

In this engraving Cupid is shown being punished by those he tormented, a popular subject of Hellenistic art and literature revived in the Renaissance. Bound to a tree in the Elysian Fields, a dwelling place for the virtuous dead, Cupid is watched by the laughing souls of lovers as Venus descends from the sky to beat him with a bouquet of flowers in retribution for the great pain that passion often inflicts. According to the verses on the rock at left, after being whipped Cupid will be set free to escape again "to this world where he triumphs over us."

Object facts

• Title: Love in the Elysian Fields
• Date: 1563
• Creator attribution: Giulio Bonasone (Italian, c. 1510–after 1576)
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving
• Collection: PR - Engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1926.433

Collection credit

Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland

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.