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About This Work
An assembly of Olympian gods rests upon a bank of clouds, featuring Jupiter with his eagle, Neptune with his trident, and Pluto accompanied by Cerberus. On the left, Mercury presents Psyche with a cup of ambrosia to grant her immortality, while Cupid appeals to Jupiter to sanction their marriage. The scene is framed by a decorative border and contains a detailed Latin caption explaining the narrative sequence.
This scene depicts the apotheosis of Psyche, which Renaissance Neoplatonists interpreted as an allegory for the human soul's purification through suffering and its eventual ascent to divine union. The narrative is drawn from Apuleius' 'The Golden Ass', a central text for the Western tradition's understanding of the soul's journey.