To what extent do depictions of Cupid in the Golden Period of Latin Literature reflect depictions of Cupid in Roman Wall Art?
Cupid, being the god of desire, is most commonly found in scenes portraying love in Roman art. But even while Roman art is dominated by scenes that can be considered sensual or romantic, Cupid is not well represented in either Roman art or even Roman literature. But when Cupid is present in Roman literature, his actions tend to have a large impact on the plot of the work as a whole, while in Roman art Cupid acts as a symbol for love and desire more so than an actual character with merit in the scene depicted. While he is still present in a handful of works, Cupid is rarely the focal point and is often of considerably smaller stature than the focal point. Even if Cupid is the focal point in a few rare exceptions, he is still fairly petite and performs the side character of “bringer of love” rather than dominating the frame with his actions.
Roman Wall art has been broken up by art historians into four style categories, originally named First style, Second style, Third style, and the Fourth style. The First style consists mainly of the imitational painting of colored marble for families that could not afford to have their walls decorated with real marble (Ramage 61). The Second style features architecture, like columns and pillars, painted as realistic as possible (Ramage 61) to try to mimic a sense of space and provide linear perspective. The Third Style, beginning in the time of Augustus, is dominated by sacred landscapes, petite landscapes with shrines and natural imagery, framed by thin columns that are valued more as ornamentation (Ramage 100). The Fourth style combines the Third Style of column with the Second Style’s sense of space to create distant scenes with concrete detail in the foreground, and was popularized during the reign of Nero (Ramage 121). With the subject matter depicted, the pieces that will be discussed are classified as either Third or Fourth style, since they have spindly columns, depict figures, and scenes of domesticity and nature.
Fig. 1. Mars and Venus. Fresco in the Third Style, House of the Fatal Love, Pompeii.
Fig. 2. Marriage of Venus and Mars. 50 CE, Mural Painting, House of Marcus Lucretius Fronto, Pompeii.
Cupid is the son of Venus, goddess of love, and Mars, god of war. Subsequently, he is often pictured with Venus as an attendant or helper who brings or aids love. The fresco of Mars and Venus found in the House of Fatal Love in Pompeii has a crowned Venus in purple robes sitting in an elaborately decorated chair with Mars standing behind her as the focal point of the piece. Mars is wearing a helmet with a red plume and green accent feathers and has one arm wrapped around Venus while the other is holding a spear. On the viewer’s left of the couple kneels a woman turned away while reaching inside a wooden box, while to the viewer’s right flyes Cupid. This fresco depicts Cupid as a young child, the size of Mars’ upper body, letting the viewer know that he is not of s great importance. The colors that Cupid was painted with are lighter than the colors of the focal points, also showing that he is of secondary nature in this piece, used to communicate the loving atmosphere between Mars and Venus.The fresco of the Marriage of Venus and Mars is quite similar to the fresco of Mars and Venus; a crowned Venus in purple robes is seated with Mars standing behind her in their nuptial bedroom (de Simone 92). Venus and Mars are the focal points of this piece because the signlines off all the guests and cupid point towards the couple on the viewer’s left. In this piece, Cupid is standing in the center of the room and is around two heads taller than he was previously, in Mars and Venus, holding a his standard bow and arrow. Even though Cupid is in the center frame of the piece, he is still the smallest figure in the entirety of the scene, showing that he, again, represents the atmosphere of love, rather than being a focal point of the piece. The Marriage of Venus and Mars is located in the tablinum, a semi-public office area in a Roman house that holds family records (Smith 428).
Fig. 3. Venus in her Seashell. Mural Painting, Panel in the Fourth Style, House of Venus, Pompeii.
Fig. 4. Cupid Punished by Venus. Mural Painting, House of Punished Love.
The mural painting of Venus in her Seashell depicts a nude Venus sitting inside of an open seashell wearing gold jewelry on her arms, neck, ears, and in her hair while holding a fan in one hand and a purple veil in the other. She is flanked on either side by two Cupids, each riding atop a dolphin. The pair of Cupids are roughly half the size of Venus, and are positioned to serve Venus as attendants, solidifying their position as subsidiary in the work as a whole. This Fourth Style mural resides in the peristyle of the House of Venus (de Simone 88), a room that functions as a smaller atrium at the rear of the house, which is still public to the viewer. Cupid Punishes by Venus is a rare work in the fact that Cupid is the subject of the mural. But even though he is the subject, he is not the focal point. In the mural, a woman leads a crying, toddler-sized Cupid to Venus in order to be scolded for the misuse of his powers (de Simone 97). While Cupid is assumed to have been mischievous in this artwork, connecting him to his actions in Roman Literature, he has an innocent appearance, Venus is again the focal point of the piece, like in Venus in her Seashell; she is sitting on a rock in the center of the piece surrounded by sparse trees and mountains in the background. Behind Venus hides another Cupid with only his upper body, wings, and head shown. Even though the name of the piece has Cupid is the main subject of the piece, he is still not the visual interest of the piece with his slouched posture and small frame, again reinforcing that he is just a subsidiary character. In this case, Cupid plays a lesser role to emphasis the benevolence and motherly attributes of Venus, reflecting on the values of Pompeii, of which Venus was the patron goddess, after it became a Roman colony (de Simone 92).
Fig. 5. Atys and a Nymph. Mural Painting, House of Pinarius Cerealis, Pompeii.
Fig. 6. Zephyr and Chloris. Fresco in the Fourth Style, House of the Ship, Pompeii.
Fig. 7. Proserpina Returning from the Realm of Hades. Mural Painting, House of the Vettii, Pompeii.
Fig. 8. Ariadne. Fresco in the Fourth Style, House of Meleager, Pompeii.
In the majority of the other works of Roman wall art that Cupid appears in, he is depicted as a sign or bringer of love. Small Cupids decorate elaborate murals by providing context to the scene at hand, showing that some form of love or lust is present in the figure(s) on the painting. In the mural Atys and a Nymph, a tiny Cupid is positioned in between Atys and a semi nude nymph, which whom he betrayed his love with the goddess Cybele (de Simone 138). In this particular mural Cupid advances the story told in the painting by acting as a symbol of the desire held by Atys towards the nymph. Cupid’s arm is outstretched towards the nymph, leading the viewer’s and Atys’ eyes towards the semi-nude nymph, which also emphasises the sensual nature of the mural. Cupid also emphasizes the sexual nature of Zephyr and Chloris, a fresco in the Fourth Style found in the House of Ship in Pompeii (Lessing 155). In the story of Zephyr and Chloris told by Ovid in his work Fasti, Chloris, a nymph, is raped by the god Zephyr and afterwards is turned into a flower (Sanchez). The fresco of Zephyr and Chloris is displays the same intent, showing a nude Zephyr being lead by a pair of Cupids to a semi-nude Chloris, whose clothes are being stripped by another Cupid. Here, the tiny Cupids act as aids in the rape of Chloris, and also symbolize the acts to come between the pair; but, again, he is not the focal point due to his small stature. Multiple Cupids in Proserpina Returning from the Underworld are shown riding on boats that surround a partially nude Proserpina in her return from the Underworld to her mother Ceres. Here, the role of the Cupids are to fill the space more so than symbolize a love or desire present in the piece, that being said, the Cupids are still not the focal point of the piece.In the fresco of Ariadne from the House of Meleager, (Lessing 142) a semi-nude Ariadne weeps for her lost love, while behind her stands a figure pointing towards the ship of her lost love. To the viewer’s left, a young Cupid weeps with his wings drooping down, symbolizing the lost love of Ariadne.
Fig. 9. Crafts and Trades. 63–79 CE, Fresco in the Fourth Style, House of Vettii, Pompeii.
Out of the handful of wall art available to us containing Cupid, Crafts and Trades is the only one where Cupid is the focal point of the piece. Residing in the House of Vettii, this mural painting in the Fourth Style wraps around the expansive oecus, or banquet hall, and depicts multiple Cupids completing mundane jobs such as working as bakers, goldsmiths, oil merchants, fuller’s, flower peddlers, and wine merchants (de Simone 123). While the Cupids are small in size, they are the only figures in the frame and are painted in gold, standing out from the dark black background with hints of green. The Vettii primarily grew wine and were merchants for a living, but they also had other diverse means of collecting income (Lessing 163). The tasks that the Cupids perform that decorate the living space of the House of Vettii parallel the sources of income for the Vettii family, which in turn finance the creation of elaborate murals such as Crafts and Trades. But, even with Cupid as the focal point of this expansive piece, he is still petite in stature, and is not completing any heroic or daring actions; instead he is participating in the average tasks of the Roman middle class.
The role of Cupid in Roman wall art can be condensed down into two overarching characteristics: a symbol of love, or a small minor character. Conjectures and connections can be made with the pieces of art available to us, but, there are still many limitations when discussing Roman Wall art that must be addressed. A majority of the remaining pieces of Roman wall art available to art historians and archaeologists are in the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, both of which were covered in the ashes from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE (Ramage 138). Roughly three-fifths of the city of Pompeii has been excavated (de Simone 16) leaving more pieces of the past to be discovered under the ashes and rubble. But, with the earthquakes and eruptions from the mountain still occurring today (de Simone 16), along with the financial burden of sustaining an archaeological dig, is it wise to uncover what is left of Pompeii and Herculaneum? Art is also lost due to the weathering of materials, especially in works that are located in the atrium or peristyle, which are outdoors and exposed to light and weather damage. The excavation of Pompeii has been halted for the last 50 years due to those exact limiting circumstances.
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