The Abduction of Psyche
William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825 to 1905), 1895
No print size passed the check for this piece: at 8 x 10 in, Wrong shape: a 30% crop. We would rather show it than sell a soft print.
See pieces like it you can buyCupid lifts Psyche into the air — the god of love carrying the human soul (which is what her name means) up toward the heavens, her body arced back in a swoon, his great blue-grey wings beating below them. Bouguereau makes the impossible look weightless: two figures rising against an open sky, joined at the lips, the whole composition a single soaring diagonal. It is the culmination of the ancient love story of Cupid and Psyche, the mortal girl made immortal by love. The academic finish is flawless, the sentiment unashamed. Few paintings capture pure ascending rapture as directly — the soul, quite literally, swept off its feet.
- Maker
- William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825 to 1905)
- Date
- 1895
- Medium of the original
- Painting
- Original held by
- Private collection
- Credit
- Private collection · via Wikimedia Commons
- Rights
- Public domain, verified
- Catalogue number
- PA-00660
Before a size goes on sale, the file is measured against it: pixels per inch at that size, how much of the picture a crop would lose, tone and sharpness. A size that fails is not offered, so there is nothing to choose wrong.
| Size | Why |
|---|---|
| 8 x 10 in | Wrong shape: a 30% crop |
| 8 x 12 in | Wrong shape: a 17% crop |
| 11 x 14 in | Wrong shape: a 29% crop |
| 12 x 16 in | Wrong shape: a 26% crop |
| 12 x 18 in | Wrong shape: a 17% crop |
| 16 x 20 in | Wrong shape: a 30% crop |
| 16 x 24 in | Wrong shape: a 17% crop |
| 18 x 24 in | Wrong shape: a 26% crop |
| 20 x 30 in | Wrong shape: a 17% crop |
| 24 x 30 in | Wrong shape: a 30% crop |
| 24 x 36 in | Wrong shape: a 17% crop |
| 30 x 40 in | Wrong shape: a 26% crop |
| 36 x 48 in | Wrong shape: a 26% crop |
| 40 x 60 in | Wrong shape: a 17% crop |
- Scanned
- 2026-10-07
- Master file
- 978 x 1,757 px, srgb, sRGB IEC61966-2.1
- Tone
- Darks 55, lights 237 of 255; 0% clipped light, 0% clipped dark
- Colour
- 0% vivid
- Sharpness
- 0.41
- Notes
- Neutrals lean warm (yellow): the paper and varnish of the original, kept as scanned
The Old Masters
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