Time clipping Cupid’s wings
Pierre Mignard was an important 17th-century portraitist of the French golden age. In this painting of ‘Time clipping Cupid’s wings’ (1694), Mignard depicts an allegorical concept of Time’s effect on Love (or rather infatuation) symbolised by the young Cupid. Time here is personified in Chronos (Father time wielding a scythe) who finds mention in the pre-Socratic philosophy. Chronos was also depicted in Greco-Roman mosaics as a man turning the Zodiac Wheel. Pierre painted this picture one year prior to his death, at the peak of his career.
The narrative is that of time’s effect on the longevity of love, or even infatuation that is often confused for love. Pierre wasn’t the only painter who explored this theme, there are several other renditions of the same narrative. Some of them are given below.
