Psyche at the Throne of Venus

The subject of this narrative painting is taken from “Earthly Paradise” by William Morris, adapted from a story that first appeared in “The Golden Ass” by Lucius Apuleius, 2nd century AD.

Psyche, symbolizing love of the soul, was a king’s daughter who was so beautiful she almost overshadowed Venus. Her beauty attracted the jealousy of Venus, goddess of love. Ordered by the Oracle to be taken to a mountain to be sacrificed, Psyche instead found herself taken away by a man who treated her kindly but who forbade her to look at him. Curiosity got the better of her and one night she lit a lamp to find out who her lover was. It was Cupid, the son of Venus, who fled and would not return.

This painting shows Psyche begging Venus to reunite them. Venus’ jealousy of the beautiful Psyche is clearly shown in her expression, and in the composition of the painting which puts Venus is a position of authority looking down on the distraught Psyche.

The end of the story though was a happy one. Psyche wandered the earth looking for Cupid, completing seemingly impossible tasks set by Venus. Eventually Zeus intervened, reunited the couple and made Psyche immortal so that she could join the other gods.

When it was exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1883, the Art Journal dismissed the painting as ‘a large canvas devoted to the display of the nude; attractive in colour but unnatural in pose and vulgar in sentiment’. This is probably due to its uncharacteristic treatment of a classical subject. It is a showier French atelier interpretation than a conventionally sedate British history painting.

Hale studied painting techniques in Paris under Cabanel and Carolus Duran. He exhibited with considerable success at many of the principle London galleries including the Royal Academy and the Society of British Artists. He was elected a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters.