Venus and Cupid

Painted around 1525–27, this work reflects Cranach’s blending of classical mythology with courtly taste, creating moralizing images that were both alluring and instructive. Venus embodies idealized beauty, while Cupid’s playful yet painful act offers a cautionary message about desire, a theme popular in the humanist circles of the German Renaissance.

Venus and Cupid by Lucas Cranach the Elder depicts the goddess of love standing nude, her figure elongated in the artist’s signature style, adorned with a modest headdress and jewelry. Beside her, Cupid mischievously engages with a beehive, symbolizing the sweetness and sting of love, while the detailed landscape background balances intimacy with allegory.