This website presents our knowledge and research on this important aspect of the Royal Collection. As of April 2026 it will not be regularly updated and new research on this topic will sit within the main website.

Mythology & Putti

Mythology & Putti

The too credulous Psyche looks at Cupid

c.1853-76

Albumen print | RCIN 851797

A photograph of a sketch reproducing a portion of a composition known through an engraving by Agostino Veneziano (RCIN 851790.m). The engraving is from a series of 32 plates depicting episodes from Apuleius’ ‘Fable of Cupid and Psyche’. Formerly thought to have been designed by Raphael, the plates are now generally thought to be after designs by Michiel Coxie. For a comment on the series, see RCIN 851790. The photographed drawing was reported by Ruland (1876) as having been sold by the late Major Kühlen at Rome to the Dowager Queen of Prussia. Photographs of similar sketches, which were also formerly in the collection of Major Kühlen, at RCINs 851793, 851794, 851795, 851796, 851798.
  • Acquired for the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-76)