Cupid and Psyche

Jacques-Louis David, 1817

$249

Size

These sizes keep the painting’s true proportions. Want a different shape? Email us and we’ll adapt it.

Frame

Framing never costs more than the painting. Compare rolled, stretched and framed

Hand-painted
Photo before it ships
Free shipping
90-day returns

Questions? Text, WhatsApp, call or email

After you order

What happens next

1An artist is assigned. Your painting goes to one of our painters as soon as the order is in.

2It is painted. Oil on canvas, layer by layer. 3 to 4 weeks.

3The approval promise. We send you a photo of the finished painting before it ships, and we change anything that is not right.

4It ships tracked. 4 to 10 working days to most countries, door to door.

The painting

Cupid and Psyche

David painted this in exile in Brussels in 1817. Psyche sleeps on a couch; Cupid, a grinning Belgian teenager with feathered wings, is slipping away before dawn. Critics found him too real. It is in the Cleveland Museum of Art.Ours is painted by hand in oil once you order, in the size you choose, and you approve a photo of it before it ships.

About the original

Painted in: 1817
Original size: 184 × 242 cm (72.4 × 95.3 in)
Where it hangs: Cleveland Museum of Art

See where the originals hang

Detail

Specification

Medium	Oil on canvas
Painting size
Framed size
Frame
Orientation
Dominant colour
Arrives	Rolled, ready for local framing
Packed	Rolled in a protective tube
Turnaround	3 to 4 weeks, then delivery

The hand behind it

Jacques-Louis David

Jacques-Louis David was the leading painter of French Neoclassicism. His pictures are clear, severe and heroic, with sculpted figures, crisp outlines, strong light and compositions laid out like a stage, and he put them at the service of the Revolution and then of Napoleon. He was born in Paris in 1748, won the Prix de Rome in 1774 and studied in Italy. The Oath of the Horatii of 1784 made him famous. During the Revolution he was an active politician and painted The Death of Marat. Under Napoleon he became the official court painter, producing Napoleon Crossing the Alps in several versions and the vast Coronation of Napoleon, now in the Louvre. After Napoleon’s fall he went into exile in Brussels, where he died in 1825. In Bonaparte Crossing the St Bernard Pass, look at the rearing horse, the billowing cloak, and the names of Hannibal and Charlemagne carved on the rocks below.

All paintings by this artist

Looking after it

Care and hanging

Keep it out of direct sun. Oil paint and varnish yellow and crack under prolonged UV. An interior wall away from a south-facing window is ideal.

Dust it, do not clean it. A dry, soft brush once or twice a year. No water, no sprays, no cleaning products.

Avoid damp and heat. Not above a radiator, not in a bathroom. Canvas expands and contracts with humidity.

Hang it at eye level. The centre of the painting about 145 cm (57 in) from the floor, on two fixings so it sits level.

Before you buy

Questions

How is the finish priced?

The price you see is the painting at the size you chose, in the finish you chose, and it updates as you change either. Rolled arrives in a protective tube, ready for local framing. Stretched arrives on wooden bars, ready to hang. Framed arrives in its frame, ready to hang. Stretched and framed go up to 60 × 90 cm (24 × 36 in); larger paintings travel rolled.

How long does it take?

Painting begins after you order and takes 3 to 4 weeks, including drying and the photo you approve. Delivery then takes 4 to 10 working days to most countries. More on delivery times.

Will it look exactly like the original?

It is painted by a person, so no. Brushwork varies between copies, which is the difference between a painting and a poster.

What if I do not like it?

Ninety days from delivery, full refund.

Can I get Cupid and Psyche in a different size or shape?

Yes. Cupid and Psyche is painted to the size you want, in the original’s proportions, or adapted to another shape on request. Stretched and framed go up to 60 x 90 cm (24 x 36 in). The original measures 184 x 242 cm (72.4 x 95.3 in).

Every order