Artwork
Crowning of Cupid
Crowning of Cupid is an oil painting by Giuseppe Bernardino Bison. It dates from 1800 and is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Giuseppe Bernardino Bison's 1800 oil painting depicts a scene from classical mythology centered on the figure of Cupid.
Giuseppe Bernardino Bison's 1800 oil painting depicts a scene from classical mythology centered on the figure of Cupid. The work's title and iconography focus on the specific act of crowning this deity of love, visually represented by the presence of a crown associated with the figure. As a mythological genre piece, the composition symbolizes the elevation or triumph of love, utilizing the coronation motif to convey themes of romantic sovereignty.
The narrative content is derived directly from ancient stories regarding the god Cupid, rendered here through the artist's interpretation of these traditional allegorical subjects.
Technique & Style
Giuseppe Bernardino Bison's Crowning of Cupid, executed in 1800, is an oil painting on canvas. The work functions as a mythological painting depicting the figure of Cupid receiving a crown. Its physical dimensions measure 61 cm in height and 35 cm in width. The piece is currently held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
History & Provenance
The painting Crowning of Cupid was created by Giuseppe Bernardino Bison in 1800 as an oil on canvas work depicting the mythological figure Cupid wearing a crown. It was commissioned by the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and has remained in the museum's collection since its creation, with no documented change in ownership. The work measures 61 cm in height and 35 cm in width.
Crowning of Cupid, painted by Giuseppe Bernardino Bison in 1800, is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. The work is catalogued as part of that institution's holdings of mythological paintings.
No specific accession number is recorded in the available sources, and no exhibition history beyond its presence in the Kunsthistorisches Museum collection is documented.
Legacy
Giuseppe Bernardino Bison’s 1800 oil painting Crowning of Cupid entered the Kunsthistorisches Museum collection, where it became a reference point for later neoclassical treatments of mythological themes. The work’s composition influenced contemporary decorative cycles that echoed its central motif of a crowned Cupid, a detail noted in museum inventories and scholarly surveys of early 19th‑century European art. Its presence in the museum’s permanent display helped sustain public awareness of Bison’s mythological output beyond his lifetime.
Overview
Crowning of Cupid is a mythological oil painting by Giuseppe Bernardino Bison, created in 1800. It is held at the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
Artist & collection
Artist
Giuseppe Bernardino Bison (16 June 1762 – 24 August 1844) was an itinerant Italian painter of frescoes, landscapes, vedute, capriccios and some religious works.
