Happy Valentine's Day: Caravaggio's Cupid & the Festival of Lupercalia

ABC RTV6
By Timothy Sexton, Contributing Writer

"Amor Vincit Omnia" (1601–1602) by Caravaggio.
 Courtesy of Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.

INDIANA - The Catholic Church set to expanding the acceptance of its religion amongst the pagans by assimilating the ancient celebrations into its own religious calendar. One of these pagan holidays was a feast honoring the god Lupercus. Names were drawn out of a box that randomly matched a couple together for the sake of sexual enjoyment. The Catholic Church looked to their saints for a replacement of Lupercus and his feast. When Father Valentine became a martyr to the church, he came in handy as the perfect candidate for a new holiday. Since February had been established by the Feast of Lupercalia as the premier time of the year for finding a new mate, the new Catholic holiday honoring St. Valentine evolved to the point that when a young man was courting a young woman, he offered her a greeting card. The tradition of Valentine's cards as a token of affection resulted in ever more ornate and decorative cards. It was around this point that Cupid became the unofficial icon of Valentine's celebrations, due to his position as the son of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. [link]