The Whitworth : Psyche Carried off by The Zephyrs & Cupid and Psyche Scene 2

The Whitworth

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Wallpaper depicting Psyche Carried off by The Zephyrs & Cupid and Psyche Scene 2.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'> The main part of this composition was borrowed directly from a painting by the neo-classical artist Pierre Prud'hon (1758-1823), exhibited at the Louvre in 1808. Prud'hon's painting corresponds almost exactly to the description of Psyche's abduction given by Apuleius, the main exception being the painter's depiction of several Zephyrs: Psyche was left alone weeping and trembling at the very top of the hill, until a friendly west wind suddenly sprang up. It played around her, gradually swelling out her skirt and veil and cloak until it lifted her off the ground and carried her slowly down into a valley . By clothing Psyche and removing her from the rocky crag which looms in the background of Prud'hon's picture, the designer of the wallpaper tableau - probably Louis Lafitte (1770-1828) - has removed the menacing intimacy which pervades the original story. </p>