# The Education of Cupid [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [CORREGGIO]() - Date: 1501-1550 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 155 x 91,5 cm ## Commentary The Education of Cupid about. 1528 Oil on canvas, 155 x 91,5 cm National Gallery, London This is one of the six erotic paintings on mythological themes made by Correggio for Federico II Gonzaga, Lord of Mantua. Correggio's artistic formation was unusually dependent on his geographical origins. Working in Parma, within the larger triangle of Venice, Milan and Rome, he drew on the disparate pictorial traditions of these cities as well as on the Mantuan works of Mantegna and on prints from across the Alps. The blurred contours, veiled transitions from rosy shadow to gold and white highlight and from flesh to feather, and the elusive mood of 'The School of Love' recall Giorgione, but Leonardo's influence is also evident in the exquisitely silky hair, the dreamy smiles, the complex pose of Venus. X-rays reveal major alterations: Mercury and Venus may even have exchanged places. This method of working directly on the canvas derives from Venice. Yet Correggio draws these various elements together in an entirely individual way, partly through his method of composition. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="\#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening \(streaming mp3, 4 minutes\):<BR><A HREF="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/music1/17\_cent/gasparini\_cupid.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true"><B>Francesco Gasparini: The Meddlesome Cupid, aria</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE> \*\*\* Keywords: \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* Author: CORREGGIO Title: The Education of Cupid Time-line: 1501-1550 School: Italian Form: painting Type: mythological ## Related artworks - [Allegory of Vices]() - [Allegory of Virtues]() - [Assumption of the Virgin \(detail\)]() - [Assumption of the Virgin \(detail\)]() - [Assumption of the Virgin \(detail\)]() - [Assumption of the Virgin]() - [Assumption of the Virgin]() - [Camera di San Paolo]() - [Camera di San Paolo]() - [Ceiling decoration \(detail\)]() - [Ceiling decoration \(partial view\)]() - [Ceiling decoration]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()