Proving that love has always been around and will continue to survive through eternity, the life size bronze sculpture of sleeping Eros awakes at the Metropolitan Museum of New York.
This celebrated piece of art inspired the Sleeping Eros Exhibition that began on January 20th and will run until June 23rd. It is considered one of the most remarkable pieces of its kind that has been copied an innumerable amount of times rising discussions of its authenticity and its Hellenistic origin.
Eros was widely introduced to the world by the Romans, under the name of Cupid and it is truly a figure of international recognition, but the true origin is Greek.
The word EROS derives from the Greek word EROTAS (the state of being in love). According to the Greek mythology, Eros was the winged god, the young son of Aphrodite that would shoot his arrows into the hearts of both Gods and mortals in order to rouse love and desire…desire when shot with the dove feathered golden arrows or repellence when shot with the owl feathered lead ones.
Eros is a very important historical and mythical figure; even the creation of the world begins with Chaos, Gaia (Earth) and Eros according to the Greek Mythology. On the other hand, 6th and 5th century literature shows that Eros is just a stubborn young boy that enjoys messing with people’s hearts. In Classical Times he appears as a handsome winged young man and it’s until the Hellenistic period that Eros is portrayed as an infant.
The Sleeping Eros sculpture displays a sleeping infant, resting from desire, lying on his side to reveal the nursery innocence and purity of love. It is undeniably a world renowned piece of art, celebrated throughout the course of history and glorified during Renaissance as a symbol of the romantic Era.
Presenting the results of studies and scientific findings the Metropolitan Museum of New York aims to prove that this sculpture truly derives from the Hellenistic period portraying the clarity of everlasting romance.
And we wonder…is “Eros” just a myth???
