Cupid and Apollo with a lyre 1563 - 1573

Paolo Farinati rendered this ink drawing, Cupid and Apollo with a Lyre, sometime in the 16th century. Here, we see Apollo, adorned with his laurel wreath—a symbol of triumph and status—seated with his lyre as Cupid lies beneath him, bow cast aside. This echoes earlier depictions of Apollo Citharoedus. The lyre—an instrument of harmony, order, and enlightenment—reappears across the ages, from ancient Greek vases to Renaissance paintings. But consider how the lyre has changed—from a tortoise shell in antiquity to the elaborate instrument of the Renaissance. Similarly, Cupid’s bow, typically taut with purpose, is here abandoned. There's a psychological drama at play; these once-potent symbols, heavy with cultural memory, here seem subdued, as if weighed down by history itself. The visual language speaks to our collective unconscious, resurfacing in various forms, each time carrying echoes of the past, yet transformed by the present.