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Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileA red chalk drawing depicting two female figures in a dynamic exchange. On the right, Psyche approaches with a small vessel, while Venus stands on the left with her arms raised in a gesture of reception. The work consists of rapid, overlapping contours, serving as a preparatory study for the frescoes in the Loggia di Psiche of the Villa Farnesina.
The myth of Psyche was a fundamental allegory in Renaissance Neoplatonism, representing the soul's descent, trials, and ultimate return to the divine. This specific scene depicts the completion of the soul's final underworld task, symbolizing the attainment of divine beauty through the navigation of the material and chthonic realms.
R.p.120, No. 10-3. 655 M. ADD. 2 . D. 10
Apuleius
Author of The Golden Ass (Metamorphoses), the primary narrative source for the trials of Psyche and the specific episode of the Vase of Proserpine.
Marsilio Ficino
Renaissance philosopher who popularized the Neoplatonic interpretation of Psyche as the human soul struggling toward divine union.
Object
Oil on panel
mythological
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
https://collections.ashmolean.org/
800 × 1061 px
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 2, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.