Cupid on Horseback

The bronze statuette is not inspired by a specific event in mythology, partly because there are few myths in which Cupid is the protagonist, appearing instead as the usual companion of Venus, assisting her and shooting his arrows at men or gods. As is often the case in painting or sculpture, Cupid is depicted as a winged putto, with a round, graceful face and body. But his cuteness does not detract from the tenacity and concentration of the moment in which he is depicted: the moment before he fires his arrow. The dynamism of the composition is evoked not only by the gesture of his right arm, which is brought back, and his head, which is bent forward, but also by the horse rearing up and turning its head. All of this takes place while the little winged god is comfortably seated on a lion’s skin, the muzzle of which is visible, positioned like a saddle.

Francesco Fanelli is known to have been the creator of this composition thanks to an entry in the inventory of the Whitehall Palace compiled in 1639 by Abraham Van Der Doort, keeper of King Charles I's collections. At No. 17 in the Cabinet Room appears, ‘in brasse blackt over’, a ‘little running horse / Cupid sitting on and another Cupid running by / wch was made by ffrancisco the one eyed Italian’. It is specified on the page’s margin that it is by ‘ffrancesco ffnaello’ and that this, together with other bronzes of his, were bought by Charles I. This description mentions ‘another Cupid running' as part of the composition described by Van Der Doort in Whitehall Palace’s inventory. However, none of the surviving variants of this group have a Cupid running next to the horse.

This remains an unsolved problem, and the exemplar from King Charles I's collection would therefore be missing now. Another record in George Vertue's fourth Note Book (between 1736-1741) states that amongst the bronzes belonging to William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle (later at Welbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire) was a ‘Cupid on horseback’. No bronze of this subject can be found in Welbeck's collections, but it is impossible to confirm whether it can be linked with the V&A bronze.

Here, the quality of the modelling and the cast, as well as the chiseling suggest that this is a work that can be directly linked to Francesco Fanelli. The casting is very thin; the cupid was cast together with the horse, while the bronze base, which appears to be original, was cast separately. The arch, probably original, is also preserved. The structure is generally in good condition. Part of the horse's left leg and the tips of Cupid's wings have been lost. The bronze is covered with a dark patina, worn on more prominent points.

The model was indeed very popular and is certainly among Fanelli's most successful compositions, along with the Rearing Horse, the Saint George and the Dragon or the Turk attacked by a lion. Of the Cupid on Horseback, at least 8 versions are currently known (e.g. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, museum no. M.1-1962; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, museum no. 1975.1.1400; and Walters Museum, Baltimore, museum no. 54.146).

These bronzes all derived from the same composition, but all show minor variations, making each of them a unique cast. This practice is typical of the bronzes coming from the workshop of Francesco Fanelli who specialized in the production of small bronzes made as collectable items. Like most sculptors of his time, Fanelli used the indirect lost wax technique for casting his bronzes which allowed him to keep the original model and to create replicas. However, these were never identical to another, and each had its own characteristics (e.g. here the tail was kept low and close to the horse's body while in other examples it is kept high; or there are a few variants showing a dog under the horse). Francesco Fanelli was an Italian sculptor born in Florence on 17 December 1577.

In the early years of the 17th century, he was in Genoa where he executed bronzes as well as large-scale marble sculptures, most probably with the assistance of his sons who pursued the same career as their father. Moving to England in 1632, Francesco became court sculptor to Charles I and worked for several private English patrons, among them the Duke of Newcastle. He was last recorded in 1641.

Small bronzes of different subjects were collected in Europe from the early Renaissance. Those collected in 17th century Britain were almost all secular subjects and mainly related to mythology themes. Arranged on shelves, consoles or tables, these small bronzes were displayed in the collectors' studios, rooms or galleries containing other works of art, such as paintings, sculptures or cabinets. Depending on the subject and size of the bronzes, collectors were delighted to view them from different perspectives, often admiring their shine when bathed in light.

In addition to King Charles I and the Duke of Newcastle, Fanelli received other commissions from wealthy people, even if only few are recorded in the documents. Fanelli’s bronzes had a long lasting legacy. Despite the absence of information, it is believed that he bequeathed his models to his workshop as hundreds of bronzes made from those models were likely cast after his death and lack the refinement of those made by Fanelli himself.

In the 18th century, collectors' interest in bronzes was supplemented by their taste for porcelain. Some of Fanelli's models were then translated into this material, sometimes even polychromed. The V&A, for example, holds a derivative of the Cupid on Horseback made by the Vauxhall manufactory (414:30-1885).