Metropolitan Museum of Art

James David Draper
Age: 66
Job title: Curator of the Met's department of European sculpture and decorative arts
Time on the job: 41 years

Museum of Art is a labor of love for James Draper. Even more so now that he's in charge of a special curly-haired Cupid that first caught his eye in 1990 and was later attributed to Michelangelo.

At the time, the marble boy with broken limbs stood anonymously in the lobby of the French Embassy's office of cultural services at 972 Fifth Ave., which Draper often passed on his way to work. Through 2019, the little god of love will lodge at the Met, on loan from the French Republic. (A copy of Cupid is at its old address.)

Cupid is prominently displayed and gorgeously lit at the museum's Vélez Blanco Patio, where he's got at least one person under his spell. "He looks marvelous here," says Draper. "He slays me on a daily basis."

Have you always been interested in art?

For most of my life, yes. I grew up in Lebanon, Mo., which claims to have a population of 15,000. I got interested early on. Museums in Kansas City and St. Louis had very gung-ho programs. I simply knew by the time I was 14 that I wanted to work in an art museum.

What exactly does a curator do?

The job is all about research and communication aimed at getting to the essences of works of art. It also involves putting together presentations and exhibitions.

At the moment, I'm working on a large, long-range project about Italian Renaissance bronzes.

You studied art history at the University of Missouri and postgrad at NYU. Was the Met a dream job?

I wouldn't have dared set sights on any such thing. They needed able bodies. It happened just before the Centennial Year. It's just luck that their departments were adding staff. They offered and I accepted and I stayed.

Your department has some 50,000 objects. Favorites?

The museum is full of things that continue to be miraculous to me. The Orpheus near the Cupid is marvelous, what with its beautiful extended line and the arrangement of the limbs, one foot up, one down, and the elbow hooked across the chest.

Michelangelo's Cupid isn't the only one in your department, is he?

Not at all. There's a bronze statue of a sleeping Cupid in the Greek and Roman galleries. As soon as you start looking, they appear everywhere, but he's a pretty special Cupid, considering his history and his oddball attributes, like his quiver - it's in the shape of a lion's paw.

Do you think he'll get lots of attention on Valentine's Day?

He's all about love, so yes, quite possibly.

He'll want to look his best. How do you keep him presentable?

Just a soft feather duster. I can always see when he and the other statues need a touchup.

Can you put a value on the Cupid?

We never address that.

Some art historians don't think the Cupid is by Michelangelo. In the past, you've said, "If people are unconvinced, I'm not worried." Still true?

Yes. Absolutely.

A Picasso painting recently was torn by a visitor. Do you worry about Cupid?

Ohhhh. He's very safe, very secure.

You and Michelangelo share something besides the Cupid - you were both born on March 6.

Yes, isn't that marvelous? I've often thought about how many times I saw the Cupid. Michelangelo must have been ashamed of me - that I didn't recognize his work immediately.