Cupid and Psyche

Some have seen here a representation of Venus and Adonis or of a satyr and nymph, and this shows the strictly formal function of Canova's bozzetti. They are diligent exercises in spatial, volumetric, plastic, and pictorial effects as seen in light; the artist was not necessarily working out a preestablished iconographic theme. Subsequently he prepared a plaster model to which he referred when extracting the image from the marble.