Cupid as Victor

The young Cupid, following Virgil's saying "Amor vincit omnia" (Love conquers all), triumphs over science, art, fame and power, whose symbols are strewn at his feet: musical instruments, straight-edge, laurel wreath, and pieces of armour. The boy's ambiguous mocking smile and the provocatively importunate pose suggest that earthly love is mocking the highest moral and intellectual values of human ambition. The boy's precarious position, with his left leg an the edge of a draped bed, so that his genitals thrust almost into the centre of the picture, strikes a homoerotic note. The chiaroscuro and the incredibly natural quality of the figures are typical of Caravaggio.