This painting was a gift of Michelangelo to Tommaso de Cavalieri, a young man whom he admired and loved very much. Their correspondence was originally printed in 1623 by a descendant of Michelangelo who in vain tried to convey the idea that Michelangelo had written these letters to a woman and not to Tommaso.In this drawing, the abduction is a symbol of platonic love which redeems the soul from the body and leads it to happiness.