Still Life with Plaster Cupid

A plaster cupid in the studio

Cézanne owned a small plaster cast of a cupid, a copy of a sculpture then attributed to Pierre Puget. Around 1894 he placed it among apples and onions in his studio and painted this still life. It belongs to the Courtauld Gallery in London.

The cupid at the centre

The cupid stands at the centre, pale and twisting, its arms broken off. It is painted in whites and pale blues with dark outlines. It seems to lean, as if the whole room were tilting.

Fruit that seems to slide

On the floor-like table, red onions and apples lie on a sheet of paper. The surfaces tip steeply towards us.

At the lower left, a plate of apples and a large red onion sit beside the base of the statue.

Paintings leaning against the wall

Behind the cupid, canvases lean against the wall. One shows another plaster figure; another, at the left, includes painted fruit and drapery that seem to continue into the real still life. It becomes hard to tell where the real objects end and the painted ones begin.

This play with space and multiple viewpoints made the painting an important example for later artists.

Questions about Still Life with Plaster Cupid

Where is it?

The Courtauld Gallery, London.

When was it painted?

Around 1894.

Was the cupid real?

It was a plaster cast Cézanne kept in his studio.

Why does the floor tilt?

Cézanne combined several viewpoints, so the surfaces appear steep.

Sources and image credit

• The Courtauld Gallery, London
• Wikimedia Commons: Still Life with Plaster Cupid

Public-domain reproduction of Still Life with Plaster Cupid (about 1894), via Wikimedia Commons. Detail images are crops of the same image; no reconstruction or upscaling.