Cupid and Psyche/Bacchus and Ariadne - Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, UK
Posted by: 
Dragontree
N 51° 50.553 W 000° 56.223
30U E 642111 N 5745538
Two statues of young lovers appear in the grounds of Waddesdon Manor. This valuable and important collection is attributed to Ferdinand de Rothschild and is maintained by The National Trust with the Rothschild Charity today.
Waymark Code: WMA3TM
Location: South East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/12/2010
Views: 3
Grade II Listed on 29th January 1985 this pair of statues are copies of the originals and date to the 18th-19th centuries. They are sculpted from marble and stand on stone 19th century pedestals.
Cupid and Psyche
This statue is a copy of a statue in the Capitoline Museum, Rome. They gaze lovingly into each others eyes. 'The legend of Cupid and Psyche (also known as The Tale of Amour and Psyche and The Tale of Eros and Psyche) first appeared as a digressionary story told by an old woman in Lucius Apuleius' novel, The Golden Ass, written in the 2nd century AD. Apuleius likely used an earlier tale as the basis for his story, modifying it to suit the thematic needs of his novel.
It has since been interpreted as a Märchen, an allegory and a myth. Considered as a fairy tale, it is either an allegory or a myth, but the folkloric tradition tends to blend these.' Thanks to Wikipedia - please see the article for the full legend. visit link
Bacchus and Ariadne
This statue is a copy of the one in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The couple are portrayed in a passionate embrace. The myth is told in the following Wikipedia article: visit link 'Bacchus and Ariadne is a poem by Leigh Hunt written and published in 1819. The result of three years of work, the poem tells the Greek myth of Hero and Leander, two lovers, and the story of their forlorn fate. Hunt began working on the poem during the summer of 1816, arousing the interest of the publisher John Taylor, and despite repeated delays to allow Hunt to deal with other commitments the poem was finished and published in a collection 1819. Hunt later claimed in a poem about Bacchus and Ariadne the he was seeking to humanise myths and make them more understandable to the common people. The collection was well received by contemporary critics and poets, including Thomas Carlyle, while more modern writers such as Edmund Blunden have criticised the flow of its narrative.'