In the Galleries of the Art Institute of Chicago hangs a stunning painting by the 16th-century Italian Baroque artist Bartolomeo Manfredi. The name of the piece is “Cupid Punished”.
This painting depicts Mars (the god of war) striking Cupid with a whip while Venus (the goddess of love) crouching to the side tries to stop Mars from assaulting the young Cupid. The scene shows Mars dressed in Roman garb with a striking red toga, Venus in a stole, and Cupid naked with a quiver, bow, and arrows.
When you look at this piece for the first time, you are amazed at the extraordinary artistry of the work. The scene is very dramatic with Mars pushing Cupid down, ready to attack, while Venus is off to the side in shock trying to stop Mars from attacking. The colors, composition and facial expression are very fine and reveal an interesting story. The painting was originally believed to be a Caravaggio and rightly so the superb execution of chiaroscuro greatly intensifies the drama of the scene.
Seeing this artwork, one might think that it is typical classical mythology with Mars punishing Cupid for his entanglement with Venus and himself. However, this is not the case at all, what we have here is one of the most intense scenes of homoeroticism in European art!
While a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago I had the privilege of taking a course in European Painting from the legendary professor Robert J. Loescher. On one of our walks through the galleries of the Art Institute Professor Loescher stopped the class before this famous painting and asked us to respond to it. When we finished our answers (which made no sense), he then explained the artwork to us.
Roman mythology is the vehicle used by Manfredi to deliver his real message which is homoerotic sadomasochism. As a gay man, Manfredi used to express his sexuality in his works and this is the case with Cupid Punished. What we have here is Cupid depicted as a young male (a smooth, hairless youth or “youngster” in gay parlance, not an innocent winged babe) receiving sexual gratification from the blows of Mars! Cupid’s ass located dead center is clearly the focal point of this painting as he waits for Mars to hit the ropes. If you look at Cupid’s wrist, it is limp (passively submitting to Mars) not tight as he would be in a fight and blindfolded, his mouth is open showing him in a state of complete ecstasy. Both male figures are attractive, dominant and beautifully acted. While Venus, pushed to the side, her breasts hanging out (a ploy to satisfy straight viewers) looks pretty homely, there’s not much to be said for the goddess of love!
Truly, this intense man-on-man sexual intercourse leaves us all to reflect on our own sexual personalities. As the saying goes “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, though, give it a second look!