L'Amour reçoit l'hommage de Diane, d'Apollon et de Mercure

Dated 1646 and part of the Cabinet de l'Amour decorative series for the Hôtel Lambert, this panel depicts Love receiving homage from Diana, Apollo, and Mercury — three of the most powerful Olympian deities subordinating themselves to Eros as the governing cosmic principle. The allegorical programme of the Cabinet de l'Amour presented love as the supreme ordering force of the universe, drawing on Neoplatonic sources that saw Eros as primary among cosmic forces. Le Sueur's treatment, characteristically, elevates this concept into a scene of graceful, dignified ceremony rather than playful or erotic spectacle. Diana, goddess of chastity, lowering herself before Love was a particularly pointed element of the iconographic programme — the defeat of virginity by the universal force of attraction. The panel is among the most richly figured in the series, allowing Le Sueur to demonstrate his command of the divine assembly.

On panel, the composition organises the three homage-paying deities in a curved arrangement before the enthroned Cupid — a spatial arrangement that creates a sense of ordered ceremony. Le Sueur differentiates each deity through their traditional attributes and specific gesture of homage. His decorative palette is warmer and more luminous here than in his religious works, with blues, golds, and warm flesh tones creating the richness appropriate to an allegorical celebration of love's power.