Weeping cupid

The statuette depicts a naked Cupid standing weeping and holding a handkerchief to his face with his right hand. It is likely to have been part of a group of Venus chastising Cupid.

Cupid, son of Venus and god of love, can make both men and gods fall in love with each other at will with his arrows, and thus embodies unbridled passion. His mother Venus is also among his victims, as he instigated a liaison between her and Mars, the god of war, in his usual way. She was caught out by the Olympian gods and ridiculed. As a punishment, Venus burned his arrows, tied him to a myrtle tree and whipped him with rose twigs.