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1785-1790

Allegory of Love Triumphant

Felice Giani

Italian, 1758 - 1823

This drawing's high degree of finish suggests that it is one of Giani's "academy pieces," from a practice of the time in which a group of artists would test their skills as draughtsmen by setting a theme that each would draw and then offer mutual critiques of the results. Here the triumphant winged figure of Cupid, supported by two women, tramples symbols of literature, science, and art, signifying the omnipotence of love.

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