Cupid and Psyche

Paolo Triscorni (1757–1833) after Johan Tobias Sergel (1740–1814)

18th/19th c. Marble

This sculpture group is a copy of “Cupid and Psyche” (1787) by the Swedish sculptor Johan Tobias Sergel. It was made by the Italian sculptor Paolo Triscorni, who worked in St. Petersburg and also filled orders from Estonia. The sculpture belonged to the renowned art collection of the Lipharts, a Baltic-German noble family who lived in the manor of Raadi.
Since the original is in Sweden and the copy differs from it not just in size but also in several details, it has been assumed that the model Trisconi used must have been a copy, too. Such art practices were completely acceptable and widespread in the 19th century. More important than originality was the opportunity to own a sculpture and the message it carried, and copies served that purpose perfectly.
Sergel’s “Cupid and Psyche” is appreciated by collectors for its beautiful classicist form modelled after antique art, but also for the story it conveys: the love between the mortal woman Psyche (“soul” in Greek) and the immortal God of Love.