Claude Michel, known as Clodion, was French but lived in Rome between 1762 and 1771. There he studied classical Roman sculpture, as well as the work of Michelangelo and Bernini. He was famous for small-scale terracotta groups, often made for private collectors. This work is thought to date from the late 1790s and be one of a group made by Clodion to re-establish his position after the Revolution and intended for returning emigré families.

Cupid is here represented as a young man with outstretched wings, conveying the swooning Psyche through the clouds, surrounded by 'amorini' or little winged putti (which are characteristic of Clodion's work - e.g. see also A.53-1951).

The story of Cupid and Psyche was by the 2nd century AD writer, Lucius Apuleius, in his 'Metamorphoses' (also known as 'The Golden Ass'). The widespread attention given to Psyche, the (mortal) daughter of a King and Queen, for her exceptional beauty, angers the goddess Venus greatly. She despatches her son, Cupid, to make her fall in love with a monstrous creature, but instead he falls in love with her himself.

This group demonstrates Clodion's skill in not only successfully combining and intertwining a variety of elements in a very tight composition, but also in his vigorous working and tooling of the clay to create texture which contrasts with smooth skin adjacent.