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Head of a Sleeping Cupid
(Roman Empire )
Cupid, the god of love and son of Venus, resting from his strenuous job of causing humans to fall in love, was a popular motif during the Roman imperial period. This fragment might have belonged to a sarcophagus and may, in fact, actually represent Hypnos, god of sleep.
Sculptures of the subject were popular with 16th and 17th-century collectors: in Antwerp, both Peter Paul Rubens and Nicolas Rockox owned marble "Sleeping Cupids" that they believed to be antique. Rubens's is not traceable, but that of Rockox (in the National Museum, Copenhagen) is now thought to date to the 16th century.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Giovanni Dattari, Cairo, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Lambros-Dattari Sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, 1912, June 17-19, 1912, p. 41, no. 340; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1912, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 4/4/1961 | Treatment | cleaned |
Geographies
Italy, Rome (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 6 1/2 x W: 5 11/16 in. (16.5 x 14.5 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
23.134