Sleeping Cupid Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610)

Description of Caravaggio’s painting "Sleeping Cupid"

At the time when Caravaggio began this painting, most people believed sacredly that immersion in sleep itself could serve as a symbol of liberation from the quality of sensuality. It was aspired to by knights who at one time had taken a vow of celibacy and chastity. Cupid in the painting is also immersed in a deep and serene sleep, his posture perfectly relaxed, and his dreams surely do not disturb him in any way.

The boy’s right hand rests loosely on his stomach, and in his left hand he still clutches his bow and arrow. His weapons are capable of striking anyone who dares to wake him with the disease of love. His dark wings are spread out: his right wing is away from his master, and on his left wing he rests his hand. The feathers in his wings are large and as if smoothed. Cupid is completely naked, but this does not embarrass him in the slightest; everything in his pose speaks of naturalness. One leg rests on the other, he stretches them along the entire canvas.

No one interrupts his peaceful and happy sleep. There is a dark background around him, with nothing visible except the character’s body. After studying this painting in the research laboratories, it became known that the picture used to depict birds, as a symbol of mutual love, and other small objects. But later the author covered everything with a dark background. Cupid’s facial features are large and his hair is short. He looks like a small child, tired after a long and tiring day. When viewed at length, his sleep seems too deep, like a stupor. A heavy, oppressive dream can serve as a symbol of the inexorability of such a fleeting phenomenon as time.