Divine Love Conquering Cupidity

Artist Anton Wierix II Flemish, ca.1555/59-1604

Dateca. 1575

MediumEngraving on laid paper

DimensionsSheet: 4 7/16 x 3 1/16 in. (11.3 x 7.8 cm)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineGift in memory of Leon H. and Marie Buttlar Sparling by their family

Object number2008.20.14

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Works on Paper

InscribedEngraved in cursive script at the bottom of the plate in a bordered tablet below the image area "Dius Amor postqua impuru subiecit Amore,/Freget et in stygusspicula nata plagis:/Imbuit inuocuas rediuiuo sote saggitas/Viuifico ictu corda ferire parat./Pande sin pia turba Deo, Sacra vulnera perfer,/Viuere et o discas ut ante mori." In the lower right of this tablet in a larger, printed font "pet [u?ub] ex" with the first 3 letters darker than the other printing and the next letters lighter, less legible. Appears to be a later addition to the plate. There are five scattered lines of text in the image area itself. On the halo of the angel at the center "DIVINUS AMOR"; on the blindfold around Cupid's eyes "CUPIDO"; above the crucifix "IHS" from the dove at the top of the cross, "Ignen veni mittere in teram" and on a banderole wrapped near the bottom of the cross "Amor me crucifix". Two pieces of old cut out mat board glued inside the new mat: 1. "681" printed in black 3/4" high numbers in a late-19th or early-20th century type on a pre-printed and glued paper with puched edges (like a stamp). The same kind of number is found on 2008.20.8, .9 and .10. 2. "ANTON WIERIX/ collectors reference stamp on reverse side of print" typed Written in pencil LR of new inner mat "Divine Love Vanquishing Cupidity."

MarkingsOn the reverse: in the lower left a purple stamped mark of a small circle with the letter M and possibly J conjoined with two small dots inside the J.; in pencil in the lower right "A 119 L" the letters in cursive, appear to be 19th century.

DescriptionA central figure of a large winged angel wearing a crown as well as halo and carring a bow in his left hand and two crossed arrows in his right. One of the arrows points directly at the wound in the side of the crucified Christ on the cross at the left. The angel stands with his left foot on the groin of the fallen cupid. Cupid lays on the ground with his back to the viewer, a blindfold over his eyes, his bound wrists crossed and behind his back propping him up on his elbows. A bow and broken arrows are scattered on the ground around him. A crowd is gathered in the right background, the figures in the front row with hands clasped in prayer. The crucifix at the left grows from a tree stump on a rock. Bright clouds and rays of light eminate from the upper left, above the cross.Exhibition History"Old Master Prints from the Sparling Family Collection", Hoopes Gallery, The Hyde Collection, February 28 - May 24, 2009.

“Prosperity and Exclusion,” The Hyde Collection, Hoopes and Whitney-Renz Galleries, May 31 – Sept. 21, 2025ProvenanceBefore 1938, New York, NY, William Randolph Hearst (according to Richard Helbig)
By 1941, New York, NY, Gimbel Brothers (according to Richard Helbig)
Richard Helbig
2006, Houston, TX, Tobin Sparling
2008, Glens Falls, NY, The Hyde Collection Trust