Cupid with a Butterfly

William-Adolphe Bouguereau's favorite figures to paint were children, women and angels.

The artist's representation of these figures in his paintings often evoked various emotions with the figures of children and women evoking a sense of innocence. Often times William-Adolphe Bouguereau would combine various figures to give complex emotions in his oil paintings.

Angels when compounded with women were playful with the women providing the sense of feminine demure that was consistent with many of his interpretations for the female figures. This painting entitled Cupid with a Butterfly is a academic-classicism styled painting categorized as angels for the use of an angel figure in the oil painting.

In this painting we can observe that the angel who is cupid is sitting on a short stone wall in a garden. This garden theme is further heightened by what deems a small fountain in the background and the butterfly which rested on the arm of the figure. Cupid in this figure is sitting and playing with the butterfly. Just beside the figure of cupid is a set of bow and arrows.

This whole scene reflects a tranquil sense of peace and retreat as Cupid is distracted from imparting love to people by the graceful butterfly. Indeed William-Adolphe Bouguereau's talent as a painter is on show in this painting where the artist evoked a scenery emotion with the various elements coming in play in this oil painting.