"Sleeping Eros" at the Met: Master of mischief A CHUBBY, snoozing toddler with thick curls above his beautiful face, "Sleeping Eros" looks deceptively benign. His right arm flops across his body; one wing (much of it now lost) is tucked under him while the other, with delicately detailed feathers, nestles against his back. The remains of his quiver and arrows lie near his head; he is exhausted but prepared to act quickly. This fine Greek sculpture was made between the third and second centuries BC, and is probably from the island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea. It is usually in the Greek and Roman galleries at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. But Eros now slumbers at the centre of a small but captivating show at the museum about changing conceptions of the god of love (known to the Romans as Cupid), and the lasting aesthetic legacy of this compelling bronze sculpture. The exhibition, which runs until June 23rd, features nearly 50 pieces, including ancient and Renaissance sculptures, 16th- and 17th-century drawings, painted Greek pots, Roman silver and Greek gold jewels, all inspired by Eros. It opens with a Roman bronze statue of Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep, who strides forward as if on an urgent mission. Yet the atmosphere in the room is one of tranquillity, in part because of the profound abandon with which the central Eros has given himself up to sleep (the talented Greek sculptor is unknown). It is easy to connect this Eros to the sugary Cupid of Valentine's Day cards, whose arrows are inevitably tokens of affection. Yet the ancient god of love was feared as well as worshipped. According to myth, Eros carried arrows tipped either in gold or in lead: the gold ones incited extreme desire; the lead ones killed it. In "The Golden Ass," the oldest surviving Latin novel, written in the second century AD, the author Lucius Apuleius retells the tale of Cupid and Psyche. He introduces the god of love as an exquisite young man with an evil streak, who spends his time, "running up and down in the nights from house to house and corrupting the lawful marriages of every person." The story ends happily, however, with Cupid marrying the ravishing Psyche, who then becomes the goddess of the soul. The two soon become the parents of Pleasure. This ancient romance is alluded to in a number of pieces throughout the show. "Sleeping Eros" entered the Metropolitan in 1943. New research by Seán Hemingway and Richard Stone at the museum confirmed earlier studies that dated the sculpture to the Hellenistic period. This evidence supports their belief that the Met's sculpture is the original, from which many copies were subsequently made. The exhibition provides a step-by-step analysis of their findings, which include the discovery that the drapery between the little god's legs was replaced probably around the second century AD. When Thomas Campbell first became director of the Met four years ago, he set out to increase the number of shows that spotlight the museum's own great holdings. He also encouraged more co-operation and less competition among its 17 curatorial departments, which some saw as independent fiefdoms. This exhibition, a collaboration of five departments, is a mark of his success. The many exceptional works of art on view gain new meaning by being placed together within a single room. Yet always it is the "Sleeping Eros," made on a Greek island more than 2,000 years ago, that seizes the attention. This exhibition encourages and aids the appreciation and understanding of a masterpiece, and of the mischievous god who was its inspiration.