Punished Eros

At the left a woman holds the hand of a winged child, Eros. His back is to the viewer and he appears to rub tears from his eyes with his right hand. The woman and Eros are stepping toward another woman, Eros’s mother, who is seated at right. In her lap she holds the child’s confiscated quiver and arrows—presumably as punishment for his mischief. Within a painted frame, the four figures are set in a rocky landscape with a few trees, including a large leafy tree between a cleft in the rocks. There is some pigment and imager loss along the top of the fresco and a bit of gray plaster shows in this spot.

Punished Eros

Medium:
Fresco
Dimensions:
126 cm wide, 162.3 cm high
Context:
House of Punished Love, tablinum f, north wall, central section,
Date:
1st century CE
Inventory Number:
MANN 9257
Lender:
National Archaeological Museum of Naples
Credit:
Image © Photographic Archive, National Archaeological Museum of Naples