In this emblematic engraving – one in a series by van Veen – erotic love and its violence are tellingly located in a bedroom featuring a contemporary bed with tester and heavy curtains. A semi-nude woman stands beside Cupid lying on the bed wounded by an arrow. Cupid’s languid expression and his arm reaching out towards her convey a sense of love’s knowledge, which enfolds pain into pleasure, and blends danger into desire.