Artist: Lucas Cranach The Elder
Date: 1530
Size: 38 x 58 cm
Museum: National Gallery of Denmark (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Technique: Oil On Panel
The scene is taken from literature, specifically the poem Cupid Stealing Honey by the classical Greek poet Theocritus.The story behind the paintingThe poem tells the story of how Cupid complains to his mother, Venus (the goddess of love), of how the bees sting him because he has stolen their hive. He wonders that creatures so small can inflict so much pain. Venus laughs and tells him that their stings can be compared to the wounds that he himself inflicts on all those hit by his arrows. The brief ecstasy of love may soon be replaced by suffering and heartbreak. A sign in the top left corner refers to Theocritus’ poem.The painting
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