Carl Paul Jennewein modeled Cupid and Gazelle in plaster early in his career while studying classical art at the American Academy in Rome. The first bronze cast was made in Rome, followed by later casts in New York and Munich. The cupid’s elongated limbs and graceful hands recall images of the Christ Child painted by Italian Mannerists of the 16th century. The highly stylized gazelle, however, seems to refer to Greek archaic sculpture (800 – 480 BC), evidence that Jennewein and other art deco sculptors drew heavily upon the classical past. Jennewein was best known for public sculpture decorating New York’s Rockefeller Center, several buildings in Washington, D.C., and, most famously, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where Greek deities fill the central pediment on the museum’s North Wing. Cupid and Gazelle was one of the first American bronzes to enter the BMA collection.