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'The Enchanted Castle', 1664
Full title: Landscape with Psyche outside the Palace
of Cupid
by Claude Lorrain
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The painting illustrates an
episode from the classical myth of Cupid and Psyche,
a story originally told by Apuleius in his Metamorphoses
written in the 2nd century AD.
We see a princess, Psyche, sitting on a bank with a magical castle behind her. The castle belongs to Cupid, the god of love.
Psyche was such a beautiful princess that people worshipped her appearance, taking attention away from Venus (goddess of love), previously thought to be the most beautiful of all. Venus, enraged by the competition, decided to punish Psyche by instructing her son, Cupid, to make her fall in love with the ugliest creature he could find by shooting one of his magical arrows at her. When Cupid saw her, however, she was so beautiful that he fell in love with her himself and decided to keep her as his wife. Apollo (god of prophecy and divination) tells PsycheŽs father that she must get ready for marriage and stand in a wedding dress on a mountain top, where an evil spirit will take her away. The west wind, Zephyrus, wafts her from there to a hidden valley, where CupidŽs palace lies.
Psyche enters the palace of Cupid with its jewelled gates and golden floors and is waited upon by invisible servants. When she arrives, a friendly voice guides her in telling her that she need not be afraid. Cupid comes to visit her in the darkness, at night, so that she can not see him. He makes her promise never to look at him or try to find out who he is. After a few days Psyche starts to feel lonely and asks Cupid if her sisters can visit. As soon as they arrive at the castle they are mad with jealousy, seeing her magnificent surroundings and the beautiful gifts she has been given. In order to ruin their younger sisterŽs happiness, they persuade her that she must find out who her husband is and scare her by suggesting that he must be a monster if he needs to hide in the darkness. Worried, Psyche goes to bed that night with a dagger and an oil lamp. Cupid wakes up when she leans over to look at him and realising he has been betrayed, he abandons her.
Psyche goes to Venus to ask for her help. Venus makes her a slave in her home and sets her a series of impossible tasks. If she completes them successfully, Psyche will be reunited with Cupid. With the help of various sources, including a swarm of ants and an eagle, she finishes the challenge but Venus will not grant her the reward she promised. In despair Psyche turns to Jupiter (king of gods) for help. He agrees to reunite her with Cupid and their marriage is celebrated by the gods. Venus forgets her anger at PsycheŽs beauty and Jupiter grants Psyche immortality by giving her a magical drink of nectar.
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Photo © The National Gallery, London
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