fig. 1 Clio, Hadrianic period Marble Vatican Museums
Apuleius’s narrative is centred on the obstacles that Psyche, a mortal princess, set out to overcome for love of Cupid, the divine son of Venus. The two characters’ names respectively mean ‘soul’ and ‘desire/love’, so their story functions as an allegory of the yearning of the human soul for love, which is ultimately crowned by their marriage, thanks to which Psyche joins her immortal husband on Mount Olympus. The ancient Greek word for ‘psyche’, ψυχή, derived from the verb ψύχω, ‘to breathe, an origin that highlights the impalpable nature of the soul. Notably, ‘psyche’ also meant ‘butterfly’ in ancient Greek, which explains the iconographic connection between Cupid’s companion and butterflies. Tenerani, following an established artistic tradition, exploited the visual potential of this association by choosing to portray Psyche with a pair of wings. These are subtly carved to imitate the veined, membrane-like ones of the butterfly, and they contrast beautifully with the supple, immaculate quality of Psyche’s flesh. The artist further juxtaposes the soft, deeply folded drapery covering the figure’s lap with the rugged, jagged surface of the rock she sits on, displaying a delight in textural variation that recurs throughout his oeuvre. Also distinctive of Tenerani are the extremely high level of finish of our marble, visible in details such as the elegantly designed strands of Psyche’s hair, and the adamantine quality of the anatomy, perfected through simplified contours and planes. The episode of Psyche’s abandonment offered Tenerani the opportunity to explore emotions that were traditionally absent from the Neoclassical canon, which he conveyed through the collected, meditative pose of Psyche. This posture had its roots in the Vatican Museums’ seated Muse Clio (fig. 1; Grandesso 2003, p. 31), yet Tenerani eschewed simple formal imitation by subtly changing the position of Psyche’s feet and placing her hands clasped into her lap, a gesture that suggests a psychological introspection alien to the ancient model. Similarly, the idealized, youthful countenance, simplified anatomy and Grecian hairstyle of our figure are inspired by Thorvaldsen’s Psyche (fig. 2; Grandesso 2003, p. 33), but here too Tenerani transcends the scope of his prototype, as he softens Psyche’s features with an emotional quality unsought in Thorvaldsen’s. It was precisely this heightened sense of emotion that brought Tenerani’s Psyche to the attention of his contemporaries, and rapidly garnered their praise. The first marble model was acquired, still unfinished, by an agent of the Florentine noblewoman Carlotta de’ Medici Lenzoni for her palace on Piazza