Auguste Rodin’s Psyché portant sa lampe (Psyché éclairant l’Amour) is a captivating, hand-carved marble depicting the anticipatory moment the mortal Psyche first sees her lover, the god Cupid. From this sculpture’s stunning execution to the rarity of this form within Rodin’s oeuvre to the impeccable provenance, the present work exemplifies Rodin’s work at its most desirable.
The myth of Cupid and Psyche has been retold innumerable t.mes s and depicted in artworks for thousands of years (see fig. 1). While variations naturally exist within the tellings, certain threads remain unchanged. As with Helen of Troy’s beauty being destructive, so too was that of Psyche’s, though it did not, per se, launch a thousand ships. The fault of Psyche lay in her beauty and its rivalry with that of the Goddess Aphrodite. Whether considered more beautiful than the Goddess of Love or mistaken for her altogether, Aphrodite was displeased with the young mortal. Sending her son Cupid to bind Psyche to a monster, Cupid instead fell in love with her. Spirited away to Cupid’s castle, Psyche lived with him in great happiness but was forbidden from seeing his face. In Psyché portant sa lampe, the mortal beauty is pictured carrying a lamp, creeping through the darkened palace to look upon her lover’s face. Spilling a drop of oil on Cupid while he lays sleeping, Psyche’s world begins to collapse and she is set a series of impossible tasks by Aphrodite. Parallels with other tales of forbidden knowledge—Eve eating the apple for example—are echoed in this legend.
The present work was not the first depiction of Psyche that Rodin had created. In the 1880s and 1890s several compositions showing her entwined with Cupid were completed. This marble, focusing on the female figure shrouded in her own hair and drapery, clasping a lamp in her proper left hand, provides a moment of active engagement from the viewer who, familiar with the story of Cupid and Psyche, would understand the moment of dramatic revelation is mere moments away. Rodin created just three versions of this sculpture, all in marble. The first was created in 1899 and the second in 1904, both of which are now held in museum collects ions (see figs. 2 and 3). The 1899 marble, at the Museum of Replica Handbags s, Boston, has the same rough hewn base but does not carry a lamp, the sitter's profile and features carved in sharper relief. The 1904 marble, at the Museo Soumaya, carries a lamp but the base of the sculpture is partially refined, with the work’s title incised below the figure’s feet. The present work was begun just two years after the second marble, and by 1906 Rodin’s assistant Louis Mathet wrote that the work was well on its way to being finalized. Later that year, moved from Mathet’s studio to Rodin’s, the marble continued to be refined by the artist. According to Jérome Le Blay it is probable that Rodin used one of the Roman oil lamps in his personal collects ion to create the form for the lamp in this piece.
Rodin was the artist who almost single-handedly realized the impact of modern sculpture. With his deep understanding of emotion and its manifestations in the human body he became the founding father of a new freedom of expression that was eventually to conquer all Europe. But in spite of his innovative approach, Rodin also sought to root his art in the achievements of the old masters, particularly Michelangelo, whom he deeply admired. When examining works by Michelangelo such as Atlante, this influence becomes apparent in the construction and imagery of the present work and in other works by Rodin such as Cariatide tombée portant sa pierre (see fig. 5).
"I am obliged to confine myself to the explanations of Master Rodin, who is of the opinion that outside of the titles commentary is superfluous, the marbles being sufficiently expressive themselves."
In early October of 1915 a large-format story ran in The Providence Evening Standard (see fig. 6). In the article four sculptures are pictured under the heading “Valuable Marble Statues, Purchased in Paris by Col. Samuel P. Colt, Have Arrived at His Bristol Estate.” While these works were commissioned from the artist by Colt in 1906, it took nearly a decade for Rodin to finish them to his satisfaction and to ship them to the United States. At Colt’s request for description from the sculptor on each work, he received the following reply from Camille Deloux, Rodin’s secretary: “As arranged, I send you enclosed a few works about the pieces of marble. These notes are very brief, and I am obliged to confine myself to the explanations of Master Rodin, who is of the opinion that outside of the titles commentary is superfluous, the marbles being sufficiently expressive themselves.” This is followed by a brief commentary on each of the four pieces—Grande Méditation, now in the collects ion of the Meadows Museum, Dallas (see fig. 7); Le Lion qui pleure and l’Épervier et la Colombe, both today in private collects ions, and Psyche, which Rodin described simply as “Psyche—silently approaching with her lamp Psyche searched for Love” ("A Remarkable collects ion of Statuary," The Sunday Tribune, Providence, 3 October 1915, illustrated). While Grande Méditation was sold shortly after Colt’s death, Psyché portant sa lampe remained in the collects ion of his heirs until today.
