Banknotes from the Kingdom of Italy:
1000 Lire banknote 1909 Banco di Napoli
Obverse: Portrait of Giambattista Vico at left, red Italia seal low centre, Miraglia and Brocchetti signatures.
Reverse: Psyche of Capua - Psyche of Naples - Aphrodite, The Naples National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy.
Date 1909-1921
Printer Officina Carte Valori Richter & C., Naples.
Banknotes from the Kingdom of Italy - Banco di Napoli
The Banco di Napoli (Bank of Naples) issued the 50 Lire (P-S857) banknote on February 23, 1911, the 100 Lire (P-S856) banknote on September 10, 1908 and the 1,000 Lire (P-S859) banknote on December 13, 1914. The Banco di Napoli was the last of the Consortium Banks to lose the right to issue banknotes. After 1922 all Italian banknotes were issued by either the Kingdom / Republic of Italy or Banca d'Italia.
Psyche
(Psyche of Capua; Psyche of Naples; Aphrodite)
(Psyche of Capua; Psyche of Naples; Aphrodite)
This modern sculpture reproduces the ancient Roman Psyche of Capua, which is housed today in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy. The sculpture was rediscovered in 1726 in the amphitheater of nearby Capua, for which the work was subsequently named. Scholars continue to debate whether the subject is the mythological Psyche or the goddess Venus based upon the limited information that can be derived from the figure's pose and costume.
In the late antique tale of Cupid and Psyche, as recounted by Lucius Apuleius in The Golden Ass (2nd century C.E.), Psyche was a beautiful mortal with whom the god Cupid fell in love. Although Cupid concealed his identity from her and visited only at night, she eventually gave in to temptation and lit a lamp so that she could see him. Angered, Cupid abandoned her to her fate, but later forgave and married her after she endured a series of seemingly impossible tasks assigned by his mother, Venus. In this work, if the subject has been correctly identified, Psyche's downcast expression suggests the moment of her abandonment.