Cupid Stung by Bees
by RAVESTEYN, Dirck de Quade van, Red and black chalk, 198 x 150 mm
This chalk drawing with a moral lesson tells the story of Cupid, the god of love, who ran to his mother Venus, vainly trying to escape a swarm of bees whose honeycomb he had stolen. According to the fable told by the Greek poet Theocritus, in his Idylls, Venus laughs and says: “Are you not just like the bee - so little yet able to inflict such painful wounds?”
Ravesteyn borrowed the figure of Cupid along with the beehive behind him from a drawing by D�rer depicting the same theme.
Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 4 minutes):
Francesco Gasparini: The Meddlesome Cupid, aria