1600
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Cupid and Psyche is a 1600 by Jan Muller, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting shows Cupid kissing Psyche in a dark room. Their bodies glow against the shadowy background. One candle burns between them, lighting only their faces. Jan Muller copied engravings by Hendrick Goltzius. He used thick, wavy lines to shape muscles and fabric. The lovers look soft, almost like marble statues. This style was popular in Prague courts. Look for Jan Muller’s prints at The Cleveland Museum of Art.
Müller adopted Goltzius's engraving style of a dense network of swelling and tapering lines. He sometimes made prints after works by Bartholomeus Spranger (1546-c. 1611), another exponent of the Mannerist style and court painter to the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II (1576-1612) in Prague.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Jan Harmensz. Muller (1571–1628) was a Dutch engraver and painter. Muller was born in Amsterdam. His father was a book printer, engraver and publisher. He learned the engraving trade while working in the family…
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