This is a copy of Anna Massey Lea Merritt's best known work.
Painted as a memorial to her husband, Henry, who died three months after their marriage, Lea Merritt’s portrayal of a naked Cupid caused a sensation when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1890.
In Victorian society, the depiction of a male nude by a female artist was highly contentious. However this work did not generate any protest over decency because the nude is a child who was assumed to be less conscious of nudity and its connotations and had ‘no sense of shame before artists’.
The painting was the ‘Picture of the Year’ at the exhibition and made history as it was the first by a female artist to be purchased for the nation through the Chantrey Bequest - now Tate Britain. This copy was commissioned by Merton despite Lea Merritt’s initial reluctance. She wrote ‘I feared people liked it as a symbol of forbidden love... while my love was waiting for the door of death to open and the reunion of the lonely pair’.
During the 19th century there were a significant number of women who became successful artists, a rarity before that time. Lea Merritt was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite painters and created a wide range of artwork, including murals, portraiture, and etchings.