The Chastisement of Love

The Chastisement of Love depicts Mars whipping Cupid, pursued by a Fury. The painting reflects the style of Giuseppe Salviati, with whom the painter worked in Venice. The central figure is recognizable as Mars. He is shown whipping Cupid, the bound, kneeling figure at his feet, who is guilty of having made him fall in love with Venus. Feathers plucked from Cupid’s multi-coloured wings lie strewn on the ground, together with his broken bow and arrows. Mars is tormented by a monstrous winged female figure with snakes in her hair, firmly grasping his helmet.

While the depiction of Love winning over martial spirits was more frequent in the art of the Renaissance, Cupid was often understood as Profane Love, and thus castigated by Sacred Love, for example, in the painting by Giovanni Baglione, or by Sebastiano Ricci.