The Cup of Love
Elihu Vedder American
Vedder based this painting on one of his illustrations for an 1884 edition of Edward FitzGerald’s translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, a poem about life’s mysteries. A critic described the picture’s narrative as follows: “On a sculptured sarcophagus, in which lies buried the Past, sits a handsome brown youth. . . . To him comes the woman in fine figure, with a mass of auburn hair, whose back is alone visible. . . . At the right, Dan Cupid looks on, approving.”
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.