Mars and Cupid

Mars and Cupid (1862), Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770, 1844), Probably compledted by Brynjulf Larsen Bergslien under the supervision of H.W. Bissen after the original plaster model 1810, inv.no. A7, Marble, height: 247 cm. Thorvaldsen museum (Copenhagen, Denmark). Made with ReMake and ReCap Pro from Autodesk. Mars is the god of war and so he is given a rather macho appearance. However, we meet him in peaceful surroundings together with his son, the little winged messenger of love, Cupid. So the sculpture confronts the two opposites with each other: big and small, adult and child, war and love. It is as though father and son are in the middle of some game of exchange: Cupid has for fun been allowed to try his strength on Mars’ big, heavy sword, and conversely Mars has taken Cupid’s little love game in his hand. And it is this game that is the centre of attention. For more updates, pease consider to follow me on Twitter at @GeoffreyMarchal.