Venus Consoling Cupid Stung by a Bee

Benjamin West, born in America, settled in London at the age of 25 and went on to become court painter and President of the Royal Academy, making him the first American artist to gain an international reputation. He painted a number of works on the subject of Venus and Cupid between 1797 and 1814, basing himself on an ode by Anacreon, Wounded Cupid. Stung by a bee, Cupid complains to his mother, Venus, who embraces her child and at the same time smilingly chides him that his wound is nothing to that which he can cause with his arrows. Venus's cold, Neoclassical profile contrasts with the pretty and somewhat effeminate Cupid.