Frescoes depicting Cupid in the houses of Pompeii at the Archaeological Museum of Naples in Italy

Punishment of Eros, Pompeii, House of Punished Love

Punishment of Eros Fresco - Water-based pigments on coating (154 x 116 cm) 1–25 AD

This fresco depicts Cupid as a little boy crying.

He is crying bitterly because his mother has punished him by confiscating his bow and arrows, which make those who are struck by them fall in love.

This is because he has misused them by shooting Ares, who now prefers someone else to her.

A woman accompanies him, holding his hand and appearing to comfort him with her words.

Punishment of Eros The one who consoles him is the elegant Peitho, “Persuasion”, with the perfect profile of an ancient Greek woman, who tries to reason with him.

His brother Anteros mocks him, perched on the shoulder of Aphrodite, who looks at him sternly.

Anteros aroused antipathy towards those who betrayed Eros and those who despised love.

Anteros was responsible for bringing balance to curb the excesses of passionate love and prevent monstrous unions in order to avoid a return to the chaos of the world's origins.

Cupids, Pompeii, Casa di Giuseppe II

Fresco - Water-based pigments on coating (28 x 85 cm) 30-20 BC

Cupid fresco, Pompeii, House of Giuseppe II, Archaeological Museum of Naples

Cupids This is a series of frescoes embellished with a red zigzag line, in which Cupid occupies the centre of a black rectangle drawn around him.

Cupid is depicted in three different ways: the frescoes on the left and right depict Cupid in full figure, while the fresco in the middle depicts a round mask emerging from the centre of a corolla of a stylised flower.

Cupid on a chariot, Pompeii

Fresco - Water-based pigments on Coating (26 x 42 cm) 62-79 AD

Cupid is in a great hurry on his two-wheeled Roman chariot, pulled by two swans that he whips vigorously.

Cupid on a chariot He is a Cupid without wings, who travels through the air on a chariot drawn by birds, like that of Aphrodite-Venus.

Speed is conveyed by the position of the driver, who is subjected to a force that pushes him backwards, and by a trail of light beneath the birds' hooked feet, reminiscent of a comet.

Cupid is depicted in three-quarter profile, his right arm raised holding the whip, his gaze fixed in the distance, with his clothing fluttering around his arm and his left hand holding the reins and arrows intended for future lovers.

Cupids playing with the attributes of Venus, Portici, Reale Scuderia

Fresco depicting Cupids playing with Venus's attributes, Portici, Royal Stables, Archaeological Museum of Naples

Cupids playing with Venus's attributes Fresco - Water-based pigments on coating (81 x 92 cm) 20-10 BC

Against a black background, three Cupids frolic before an altar dedicated to Venus, the goddess of love.

A magnificent azure-feathered dove perched on the altar offers an image of peace and tolerance above the three little ones who have seized the attributes of Venus to amuse themselves.

The one on the left has grabbed a golden statuette, while the other two compete for the gold and silver festive pole with ribbons similar to those on the altar hanging from it.

Maenad with a Cupid, Pompeii, Casa Cecilius Lucundus