# Cupid with the Soap Bubble [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 75 x 93 cm ## Commentary <a href="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/database/glossary/note03.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=300,height=400'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return false">Catalogue number:</a> Bredius 470. This painting is based on a character from mythology, but it has a vanitas aspect too. Traditionally the bubble stands as a symbol for the transience of life. The winged god of love was often accompanied in the seventeenth century by various symbols of mortality. Rembrandt's version avoids banality because of its high artistic quality and expressiveness. The infant's face turns innocently towards us, making us forget the duplicity of the game. Cupid lights the flame of love, yet stands ready to extinguish it again. This typical early work by Rembrandt is signed and dated bottom right: Rembrandt/f:. 1634. ## Related artworks - [A black drummer and commander mounted on mules; riding in profile]() - [A child being taught to walk]() - [A cottage beneath trees]() - [A girl sleeping]() - [A Man Laughing]() - [A man making water]() - [A Peddler Selling Spectacles \(The Allegory of Sight\)]() - [A Polish Nobleman]() - [A Scholar]() - [A two-humped camel]() - [A woman in Zeeland costume, from the back]() - [A woman in Zeeland costume, from the front]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()