Let us now consider his [cupid’s] attributes. he is described with great elegance as a little child, and a child for ever; for things compounded are larger and are affected by age; whereas the primary seeds of things, or atoms, are minute and remain in perpetual infancy.

most truly also is he represented as naked: for all compounds (to one that considers them rightly) are masked and clothed; and there is nothing properly naked, except the primary particles of things.

bacon lists cupid’s attributes in order to

show that cupid is real.
prove that cupid is a child.
disprove the existence of the atom.
compare them to the features of the atom.