0002Achilles_Westmacott

White marble statue of a draped female figure with wings, holding a jar, against a warm brown wall

The mythological moment depicted is Psyche filling the task set upon her by Venus to journey to the Underworld and retrieve from Proserpine a box of beauty. Driven by curiosity, she opened the box and fell into a deathlike sleep. Upon seeing her in this state, Cupid beseeches Jupiter to allow him to marry her. The wish granted, Psyche is transported to Olympus by Mercury and reunited with Cupid in eternal marriage.

This seems to be what is cataloged by the Thorvaldsen Museum as “Psyche with the Jar of Beauty.” There the original plaster model is dated to 1806 and assigned to Thorvaldsen’s time in Rome (A26). Thorvaldsen made a marble copy which was purchased at the Hope Auction, “The Deepdene”, Surrey, England in 1917. Perhaps this is it? The catalog’s record does not say, but implies, that the piece sold at auction was picked up by the Museum as A821.