Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
Object Number: P_EDM_0018
Date: 1897
Category: Oil on canvas and Paintings
Material: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Canvas: H 965 x W 1372 mm Framed: H 1175 x 1585 x D 65 mm
Inscriptions: Signature, 1897: ‘EDeM 1897’
Description:

Here Cupidity, hoarding his jewels carefully in his cloak, and wearing a golden crown, is shackled to Blindness by chains and spikes. They are driving out the angel of joy from the city. The scroll on the right reads:

Hunted Joy flies through the gate.
Blind Blindness is left desolate.
Cupidity the city’s fate.
The hungry hounds insatiate,
Stays fettered to a sightless mate

This is a warning not to become so focused on worldly goods and possessions, that we forget the joy of life and the joy of life to come.