# The Education of Cupid [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [BOUCHER, François]() - Date: 1701-1750 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 118 x 134 cm ## Commentary In this painting Boucher presents the mythological family where mother Venus and father Mercury are captured in a moment of parental responsibility. As Messenger of the Arts, Mercury seems to be instructing his offspring in lessons of love, catching Venus's eye in a moment of romantic encounter. The love goddess is shown in a typically Boucheresque "bottoms-up" pose. <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> ## Related artworks - [A Summer Pastoral]() - [Adoration of the Shepherds]() - [Allegory of Music]() - [Allegory of Music]() - [Allegory of Painting]() - [Allegory of Poetry]() - [An Autumn Pastoral \(detail\)]() - [An Autumn Pastoral]() - [Apollo Revealing his Divinity before the Shepherdess Isse]() - [Are They Thinking About the Grape?]() - [Blond Odalisque \(L'Odalisque Blonde\)]() - [Brown Odalisque \(L'Odalisque Brune\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()