These frescoes were painted based on the mythological story of Cupid and Psyche. Venus was jealous of Psyche's beauty so she told her son Cupid to make her fall in love with an ugly mortal. He attempted this while she was sleeping but instead she woke up and startled him and he graced his own skin with the arrow intended for the spell on Psyche. He ends up falling in love with her. She ends up in a secluded castle where she only sees him at night and can't look at him directly. She sees her friends and they convince her to look at him. She looks at him one night with a lamp and the oil spills on him and burns him, he leaves. She becomes unhappy because he left and calls to the gods for help. the only god to answer is Venus and makes Psyche endures many obstacles. Since Psyche succeeds in these obstacles she is able to marry Cupid.
The painting represents all the adventures Psyche went through.
Federico Gonzaga wanted a "pleasure palace" to entertain his guests. This fit right into the theme he was going for.
I like how busy the painting is but at the same time as its own organization. I think it would have been more visually interesting if the table scene wasn't exactly in the middle. If everything was kind of offset, maybe with more depth, it would guide me through the adventures a little bit better. He was an apprentice of Raphael and Raphael's influence in his work.
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