Two spalliere by Jacopo del Sellaio illustrating the story of Cupid and Psyche

The study has attempted to answer the following basic questions: (1) How were the panels understood in Sellaio's time? (2) What background information is available concerning the artist, his style, and the works as spalliere which would help in understanding the panels? (3) How can the panels best be understood and appreciated today? The answer to question one, contained in Chapter 3, includes the description of the elements within the panels, the discussion of the story and allegory of Cupid and Psyche, and the interpretation of the allegory. The answer to question two is presented in Chapter 2, entitled "Background Information." Chapter 4 attempts to answer question three, the major question of the study. The thesis of this study is that the panels' contemporary importance for the art historian lies in the way they reflect the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, including such features as changes in artistic methods, the striving to imitate classical antiquity, and philosophic changes such as the advent of humanism, Neoplatonism and secularism.