Cupid and Psyche as well as the Resting Psyche follow the iconographic model of the representation of a resting nude as established by the Italian Renaissance painters. This type was popular during several centuries.
The story of Cupid and Psyche is not a myth but a late antique fairy tale, by Lucius Apuleius (2nd century AD) in the Metamorphoses, or Golden Ass. Psyche was a maiden so beautiful that she aroused even Venus' envy. Cupid, sent by the goddess to arouse Psyche's love in some worthless being, fell in love with her himself.
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