Join curator Lucy Davis and professors Jane Kingsley-Smith and Genevieve Warwick as they discuss the allure and changing meanings associated with Cupid across literary and visual culture.

While today Cupid most commonly appears in playful form on Valentine’s Day cards, we’ll discover deeper complexities associated with the ancient god of love. Delving into Cupid’s darker and more unsettling aspects, the speakers will also consider how, in more recent times, his image has been reinterpreted sometimes to reflect—and even regulate—human desire.

About the speakers: Dr Lucy Davis is Curator of Paintings at the Wallace Collection. The title of her doctoral thesis was "Rubens's Bacchic Paintings" (Courtauld Institute, 2004) which explored the role of the wine god Bacchus and his entourage in the artistic centres of Rome and Antwerp. Her research interests have focused on Rubens and the exchange of artistic ideas between the Netherlands and Italy, especially in relation to the bacchanal. 

Jane Kingsley-Smith is a Professor of Shakespeare Studies at the University of Roehampton. She is the author of a book called Cupid in Early Modern Literature and Culture, and is currently working on a new edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets.

Genevieve Warwick is Professor of Art History and currently Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Edinburgh.  She is widely published in early modern art and visual culture, including Bernini, Caravaggio and Poussin, as well as interdisciplinary work on art and science as well as theatre.  Her current research concerns an environmental history of early modern landscape painting.

Take part at the museum: Join us at the museum for this special talk, followed by drinks, book signing and after-hours access to our new exhibition, Caravaggio’s Cupid, until 20.45.

Watch online: This talk will also be broadcast live from the museum via Zoom. Online ticketholders will be emailed a link to join 24 hours in advance. Ticketholders will also receive a link to view a recording of the talk, which will be available for two weeks.