Fedele FISCHETTI (Naples 1732-1792) - Lot 42

Fedele FISCHETTI (Naples 1732-1792) Psyche revealing Cupid asleep Canvas. 77.5 x 51 cm Unframed. Related work: Psyché dévoilant Cupid endormi, haute lice tapestry, wool and silk, signed and dated P[ietro]. D[uranti].F[ecit].N[apoli]. 1786 (5.45 x 3.48 m), Royal Palace of Naples The best craftsmen from the tapestry factory in Florence, closed in October 1737 after the death of the last of the Medici family, are summoned by Charles de Bourbon, sovereign of the newly independent kingdom of Naples, who brings them to his city. He and his workshop foremen set up basse lisse looms and a factory next to the church of San Carlo alle Mortele. The king's architect, Luigi Vanvitelli, and upholsterer Pietro Duranti entrusted the creation of new original cartoons to local painters such as Bonito, de Mura and Fischetti, encouraging them to adopt the new light rocailles tones in vogue in Rome. Our modello was commissioned for the cycle of ten hangings on the story of Psyche, between 1783 and 1787, destined for Caserta and now on display in the Royal Palace in Naples, in a trompe-l'oeil border decorated with garlands of flowers. The mythological subject is taken from Apuleius (L'Âne d'or ou les Métamorphoses, Le Conte d'Amour et Psyché, VI, 8, 2 and 3). The god of love, Cupid, always leaves Psyche before daybreak, telling her never to try to find out who she is. Convinced by her two sisters that this lover is a monster who will eventually devour her, she takes advantage of her sleep and, armed with a knife, lights an oil lamp to discover him. Alas, a drop of burning oil falls on Cupid's shoulder, and he wakes up and flees in fury.