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Psyche's Engagement

Johann Georg Schutz

  • Psyche's Engagement 2
  • Psyche's Engagement 3
Basic information
ID
Ж-2541
Author
Johann Georg Schutz
Name
Psyche's Engagement
Date of creation
18th c.
Country
Germany
Technique
oil painting
Material
canvas oil
Dimensions (height x width, cm)
48 x 38
Additionally
Type
painting
Genre
mythological painting
Plot
The Myth of Psyche
Provenance
Collection of Lviv City Gallery Collection of Ivan Yakovych
Exposition
Potocki Palace
Information about author
Author
Johann Georg Schutz
Author in the original
Johann Georg Schütz
Artist's lifetime
1755–1813
Country
Germany
Biography
Johann Georg Schutz (1755–1813) was a German painter and engraver. He worked in the genres of historical painting, landscape, and portraiture. His works are imbued with romanticism. Johann Georg Schutz was the younger son of the well-known Frankfurt painter Christian Georg Schutz the Elder. He studied in his father's workshop and then at the Dusseldorf Academy of Fine Arts.  After his initial attempts at landscape painting, Schutz broadened his artistic explorations by depicting historical scenes and portraits. The artist died in May 1813, leaving behind a collection of drawings and paintings preserved in the Historical Museum of Frankfurt.
Object description
In the painting, the scene of Psyche's engagement is depicted against the backdrop of a rotunda. In the center of the work are the altar and the oracle. On the left, Psyche is surrounded by her two sisters. The artist depicted a mythological scene, specifically the moment when Psyche's father consulted the Miletus oracle to avert Aphrodite's displeasure towards her. By the oracle's decree, Psyche was taken to a cliff for her marriage to a terrible beast. Suddenly, a breath of wind transported her to a magnificent palace, where she became the wife of a mysterious creature who visited her only at night and promised never to question his identity. The jealous sisters, having learned of Psyche's happiness, resolved to destroy her, deceived her, and succeeded in making her break her promise. They told their sister that her husband was a beast and convinced her to wait for him to sleep, armed with a sword and a lantern, so she could kill him. Waiting for nightfall, Psyche lit the lantern and began to examine her husband, who turned out to be the beautiful Eros. The artist, in the spirit of romanticism, depicts this touching episode of the myth, portraying the characters in dynamic tension. As a portraitist and landscape painter, Schutz meticulously delineates the facial features and details of the painting in a vibrant, rich color palette.
Inscriptions
On the lower right is a signature: "J. G. Schütz".
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

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