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About This Work
This image shows the ceiling of the Loggia di Psyche, designed by Raphael and executed by his workshop, which illustrates the narrative of the soul's journey toward divine union. Two central panels depict the Council of the Gods and the Wedding Banquet, surrounded by spandrels showing Psyche's trials and pendentives featuring cupids carrying the attributes of various deities. Modern labels explain the Neoplatonic allegory, detailing how the story represents the soul (Psyche) being purified through love (Cupid) to achieve immortality.
The cycle represents the pinnacle of Renaissance Neoplatonism, using Apuleius's myth as an allegory for the human soul’s ascent to the divine through the mediation of Eros. It reflects the intellectual environment of the Roman High Renaissance and the influence of Marsilio Ficino’s theories on divine love and the immortality of the soul.