Cupid and Psyche 1844

Richard Dadd made this oil painting of Cupid and Psyche during his confinement at Bethlem Royal Hospital in England. Dadd was committed after murdering his father, believing him to be possessed by the devil. His art became a way to process and express his fractured mental state, often drawing on mythological and fantastical subjects that reflect the altered reality he inhabited. Cupid and Psyche, derived from classical myth, embodies themes of love, desire, and transformation, mirroring Dadd's own struggle with identity and perception. In this light, we might interpret the figures of Cupid and Psyche as projections of Dadd’s internal world, where reason and madness, beauty and horror, are intertwined. Institutional records, medical reports, and personal correspondence can all shed light on the artist's mindset and the cultural attitudes towards mental illness in Victorian England, adding to the historical context of this work.