Cup "Jupiter and Antiope" Napoleon III. France, ca. 1860-1870

Cup "Jupiter and Antiope" Napoleon III. France, ca. 1860-1870.
Bronze and patinated bronze.
Measurements: 19 x 42 x 19 cm.

The exquisite cup in bidding stands out for the large number of figures, both in round and in relief, that make it up. On one side it shows a sleeping nude nymph on the lid and a satyr on the handle, representing the mythological scene where Jupiter takes the form of a satyr to surprise Antiope while she sleeps. The front of the cup is decorated with a winged chimera with the face of a woman and the body of a serpent. Its sides present reliefs of reclining nude women surrounded by putti.

As for its iconography, the work takes up a motif widely spread in the history of art and especially treated in the painting of the seventeenth century. The myth relates that Antiope possessed such beauty that Jupiter, desirous of approaching her, transformed himself into a satyr to surprise her in her dream. This scene functions as a resource to evoke eroticism: the satyr embodies the figure of the voyeur who takes advantage of the nudity of the young woman, reminding us at the same time that the spectator also participates in the contemplation of her beauty.