Love and Psyche by Jacopo Zucchi a Collector's Enigma

In the heart of Renaissance Florence, a work of art of extraordinary beauty and complexity emerges as a witness to an era of cultural and artistic magnificence.

This is a canvas signed and dated by Jacopo Zucchi, a painter whose name is closely linked to the Medici court. The painting, which depicts one of the most famous moments in the tale of Cupid and Psyche, seems to have been created to celebrate an equally important event: the wedding between Ferdinand I de' Medici and Christina of Lorraine, held in Florence in 1589.

This hypothesis is based on the date readable on the quiver depicted in the work, as well as on the deep bond between Zucchi and Ferdinando, for whom the artist had already created other works during his stay in Rome.

The painting immortalizes the scene in which Psyche, the protagonist of the fable narrated by Apuleius in his Metamorphoses , furtively approaches the bed of her mysterious lover with the intent of discovering his identity. Driven by curiosity and by the suggestions of her wicked sisters, Psyche lights an oil lamp and, armed with a dagger, approaches the body of the young Cupid.

The tension of the moment culminates when a drop of boiling fat falls from the lantern, abruptly waking up the god who, frightened, flies away. This episode, which has fascinated artists of different eras, was rendered by Zucchi with meticulous attention to detail, framing the scene inside a luxurious room adorned with a red drape that highlights the bodies of the two protagonists.

Psyche is depicted with a belt of pearls and precious stones, while Cupid lies half-reclining in a pose that recalls Michelangelo Buonarroti's River Goddess.

The work deeply reflects the Florentine cultural climate of the time, influenced both by Tuscan sculpture, in particular by the elongated figures typical of Giambologna, and by Michelangelo's suggestions. A clear example of the latter aspect is the female figure sculpted on the headboard of the bed, which recalls the famous "Night" created by Michelangelo for the Medici tombs in the New Sacristy of San Lorenzo.

Furthermore, a very important element in the painting is the lamp held by Psyche, symbol of the Academy of Drawing founded by Giorgio Vasari, of which Zucchi was a member.

Despite the certainty of the authenticity and dating of the work, the canvas has been at the center of a heated critical debate regarding its provenance and initial membership in the Borghese or Aldobrandini collections. In 1996, art historian Ilaria Miarelli Mariani resolved this dispute, arguing that there were two distinct paintings with the same subject in the collections of the two Roman families.

According to his research, Zucchi's painting was part of the collection of Cardinal Scipione Borghese as early as the beginning of the 17th century, while a similar work by Pietro Aldobrandini was mentioned in a description by Giovanni Battista Agucchi in 1603 and later recorded in 1626 in the collection of Olimpia Aldobrandini.

Zucchi's painting appears documented in the Borghese collection since the 1630s. An inventory of 1633 describes it as "a painting of Hypsica with a colchus Cupid", further specified by Iacomo Manilli in 1650 and by the author of the 1693 inventory, who erroneously attributes it to Scarsellino of Ferrara.

This error, however, did not obscure the importance of the work, which continues to be an exceptional example of Zucchi's talent and his ability to blend different artistic influences into a harmonious and refined composition.

Finally, it is likely that the commissioning of the canvas is linked to Ferdinando de' Medici, for whom Zucchi had already created two other allegories, also today preserved in the Borghese collection.

These works were probably intended to celebrate the prince's marriage to Christina of Lorraine, which took place two years after the death of Francis I, an event that led Ferdinand to leave Rome permanently. This love story between myth and reality, intertwined with art, once again testifies to the indissoluble connection between politics, culture and patronage in Renaissance Italy.