L'Amour taillant son arc

Parmigianino painted this in Parma in the mid-1530s, for a local friend and patron named Francesco Baiardo, in whose collection it later turns up. Cupid has his back half-turned as he carves his bow, glancing round at us over his shoulder. He is standing on a couple of books, the old idea that love tramples learning and reason. Vasari, who wrote up the artists of the age a generation later, records the commission by name. Down between the god's legs two small putti struggle, one pulling the other's hand toward Cupid, the other pulling away, reluctant to be made to fall in love.