Tons of love at the flying lesson
Today We, Zarathustra the Cat, reveal the true version of the masterpiece of the famous British pre-Raphaelite artist John Roddam Spencer Stanhope, “Love and the Maiden”:
John Stanhope, Tons of Love and the Maiden
What appeared to happen in this beautiful tempera, embellished with gold paint and gold leaf?
To explain it, we should ask do you remember the story of Cupid and Psyche?
John Stanhope, Tons of Love and the Maiden, detail
Cupid abducted Psyche with her Fat Cat, who was rather heavy to carry in a flight
That’s why Cupid gave him a couple of magic wings and decided to teach the cat to fly. After this, the Fat Cat should inherit Cupid’s profession of a god of love.
John Stanhope, Tons of Love and the Maiden, detail
It was a very perspective idea: such a strong handsome cat could bring tons of love to humans!
John Stanhope, Tons of Love and the Maiden, detail
But their best-laid plans went wrong: the clumsy cat had gotten caught by blossoming oleander branches and gave his super-humans a lot of troubles to release him from the flourishing trap.
This epic moment is depicted at the painting whose commonly known version is to be seen at the Legion of Honor of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco:
John Roddam Spencer Stanhope, Love and the Maiden
Now you see that the presence of the Fat Cat gives much more sense to the happening in the painting
Thus speaks Zarathustra the Cat
BUY THIS ARTWORK as a CANVAS PRINT or as a POSTER
