Скачать или смотреть Why is CUPID Holding RAZOR?

At first glance, Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ’s "A Eunuch's Dream" (1874) looks like a romantic fantasy. A man sleeps on a rooftop in Cairo, dreaming of a beautiful dancer.

But zoom in on the details. This is not a happy dream; it's a psychological nightmare.

The Man: He is a Eunuch.

The Haze: He is holding a pipe, implying he has smoked opium to escape his painful reality.

The "Glitch": Look at the Cupid floating behind the woman. He isn't holding a bow and arrow to bring love. He is clutching a large barber's razor.

The artist included this sharp detail to mock the dreamer. Even in his drug-induced fantasy, his subconscious reminds him of the surgery that took away his manhood, making his desire for the woman impossible.

It is one of the cruelest symbols in Art History.