Lucas Cranach: Cupid stung by bees
‘Cupid complains to
Venus’ by Lucas Cranach
the
Elder, oil on board
Lucas Cranach The
Elder's painted 'Cupid Complaining to Venus' around
1526. Cupid is depicted
stealing honey from a bees nest in a tree, being
stung by the irate bees and complaining to his
mother Venus, the goddess of
love, who stands exquisitely by and chastises Cupid:
'There's never sweetness without
pain'.
A honeybee will sting an intruder if it perceives a
threat, this is a defensive mechansim. Once the bee has
stung the intruder an alarm pheronome is released and
alerts other bees from the hive. They may also sting. A
bee's sting is a
modified ovipositor and during the act
of stinging, bee venom is injected into
the intruder through the sting. In humans this
results in pain and itching, and motivates the
intruder to flee the vicinity. The bees have then
successfully defended their home.
Robbing wild honeybees of their honey, as Cupid does
here, would almost certainly result in angry bees and
stinging. Sometimes death may also result from a bee
sting, this is called anaphylactic reaction
or
shock. Honeybees often target the eyes of their
disturber, apparently attracted by their movement. A
sting in the eye is intensely painful (as the author
can testify) and any attack of the eyes causes
panic. In such a situation Cupid would see the
disturbed bees fly towards him and here them buzzing
angrily. He would experience immediate pain as the
bees stung his flesh. The ensuing pain, panic and
threat to his vulnerable parts, would cause Cupid to
desire to flee. Later Cupid's stings would redden,
swell, remain painful, and become itchy: along with
Venus' chastisement, a lasting reminder of his
theft.
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The Strange Effect of Light by Mark Rowney
The Strange
Effect of Light by Mark
Rowney
Mark
Rowney’s painting The
Strange Effect of Light can now be seen at
The Biscuit Factory
in
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK.
The
Strange Effect of Light (detail) by Mark
Rowney
The Strange Effect of
Light
There are moments when one’s eyes become adjusted to
the light that we see much more than first appear. 'The
strange effect of light' represents such a moment.The
beautiful creatures that dance around us at night are
always there but only seen when our own light attracts
them.
The original painting 'The Strange Effect of Light''
was painted in acrylics on birchwood panel.
"My influences are
the bees that sting me, the midges that bite me and the
birds that sing so sweetly. I was born in 1962. With a
stick and a pair of wellies I fought many battles in
the hayfields and moors of Northern England.
I grew up somewhat whilst being educated at
St Martins School of Art
in
London, after which I was lucky enough to work for
many of my favourite publishers, doing art work
for Penguin
Books,
the Radio
Times,
Homes and Gardens
and
various BBC
publications.
I moved to New York and lived in very small apartments,
producing work for the New York
Times,
Time Magazine
and
Travel and
Leisure. While in
America I became interested in leather work and
started producing products for the fashion designer
Paul Smith on 5th avenue. A fantastic way to meet
models.
Life moved on and so did I. Several months spent in an
Indian factory designing embroidered soft furnishings.
What a beautiful and horrible place.
For many years now I have been living back in the
lovely Durham dales where I pursue my love for nature
in contemporary art, occasionally I dust off my wellies
and sharpen my stick." Mark
Rowney