Eros and Psyche

This drawing is a sketch study based on John Singer Sargent’s sculpture Eros and Psyche, a composition that captivated me for its tension, grace, and inversion of roles. I was drawn to the moment where Eros descends, held not in dominance but in surrender, while Psyche rises to meet him with strength and tenderness. In translating the sculptural form into pencil, I let the anatomy remain fluid, the lines instinctive—allowing the figures to emerge less as statues and more as forces in motion. The roughness of the sketch reflects the myth’s emotional instability: the lovers are suspended, not yet united, their touch both intimate and incomplete.

What struck me in Sargent’s interpretation—and what I tried to carry into this study—is the reversal of gravity, both literal and symbolic. Eros is the divine, but it is Psyche who grounds the moment, lifting him in a gesture that feels almost salvational. The myth tells of vision, betrayal, and impossible reunion; in this drawing, I wanted to linger in that fragile middle space, where myth becomes metaphor and love defies logic. As a study, it is intentionally unresolved—a gesture toward a larger idea, an atmosphere more than a narrative. The bodies twist, the wings arc outward, and something ineffable hangs between them: not quite flight, not yet fall.