Putto

 ( Angels In Art ) 

A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and very often winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. Inventing the Renaissance Putto. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill and London, 2001. the putto came to represent a sort of baby angel in religious art, often called a cherub (plural cherubim), though in traditional Christian theology a cherub is actually one of the most senior types of angel, with a monstrous appearance.

The same figures were also seen in representations of classical myth, and increasingly in general decorative art. In Baroque the putto came to represent the omnipresence of Abrahamic God. A putto representing a cupid is also called an amorino (plural amorini) or amoretto (plural amoretti).

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Etymology The more commonly found form putti is the plural of the Italian word putto. The Italian word comes from the Latin word putus, meaning "boy" or "child". Today, in Italian, putto means either toddler winged angel or, rarely, toddler boy. It may have been derived from the same Indo-European root as the Sanskrit word "putra" (meaning "boy child", as opposed to "son"), Avestan puθra-, Old Persian puça-, Pahlavi language (Middle Persian) pus and pusar, all meaning "son", and the New Persian pesar "boy, son".

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History Putti, in the ancient classical world of art, were winged infants that were believed to influence human lives. In Renaissance art, the form of the putto was derived in various ways including the Greek Eros or Roman Cupid (also called "Amor"), the god of love and companion of Aphrodite or Venus, respectively; the Roman genius, a type of guardian spirit; or sometimes the Greek daimon, a type of messenger spirit, being halfway between the realms of the human and the divine.Struthers, Sally A. " Donatello's 'Putti': Their Genesis, Importance, and Influence on Quattrocento Sculpture and Painting. (Volumes I and II). (PhD Dissertation)" The Ohio State University, 1992. United States – OhioLINK ETD.

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Revival of the putto in the Renaissance Putti are a classical motif found primarily on child Sarcophagus of the 2nd century, where they are depicted fighting, dancing, participating in bacchic rites, playing sports, etc.

The putto disappeared during the Middle Ages and was revived during the Quattrocento. The revival of the figure of the putto is generally attributed to Donatello, in Florence, in the 1420s, although there are some earlier manifestations (for example the tomb of Ilaria del Carretto, sculpted by Jacopo della Quercia in Lucca). Since then, Donatello has been called the originator of the putto because of the contribution to art he made in restoring the classical form of putto. He gave putti a distinct character by infusing the form with Christianity meanings and using it in new contexts such as musician . Putti also began to feature in works showing figures from classical mythology, which became popular in the same period.

Some of Donatello's putti are rather older than the usual toddler type, and also behaving in a less than angelic way. The bronze figure of Amore-Attis is the most extreme of these. These are often termed spiritelli, sometimes translated as "". Older putto-like figures are seen in other art; they are very typical as winged teenage boys in the borders of works by the Embriachi workshop from the years around 1400.

Most Renaissance putti are essentially decorative and they ornament both religious and secular works, without usually taking any actual part in the events depicted in narrative paintings. There are two popular forms of the putto as the main subject of a work of art in 16th-century Italian Renaissance art: the sleeping putto and the standing putto with an animal or other object.Korey, ALexandra M. " Putti, Pleasure, and Pedagogy in Sixteenth-Century Italian Prints and Decorative Arts." The University of Chicago, 2007. United States – Illinois: ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (PQDT). Web. 23 Oct. 2011.

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Where putti are found Putti, , and (see below) can be found in both Religion and Secularity art from the 1420s in Italy, the turn of the 16th century in the Netherlands and Germany, the Mannerism period and late Renaissance in France, and throughout Baroque ceiling . Many artists have depicted them, but among the best-known are the sculptor Donatello and the painter Raphael. The two relaxed and curious putti who appear at the foot of Raphael's Sistine Madonna are often reproduced.

They also experienced a major revival in the 19th century, where they through paintings by French academic painters, from advertisements to Gustave Doré’s illustrations for Orlando Furioso.

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Iconography of the putto The iconography of putti is deliberately unfixed, so that it is difficult to tell the difference between putti, cupids, and various forms of angels. They have no unique, immediately identifiable attributes, so that putti may have many meanings and roles in the context of art.

Some of the more common associations are:

• Associations with Aphrodite, and so with romantic—or erotic—love
• Associations with Heaven
• Associations with peace, prosperity, mirth, and leisure

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Historiography The historiography of this subject matter is very short. Many art historians have commented on the importance of the putto in art, but few have undertaken a major study. One useful scholarly examination is Charles Dempsey's Inventing the Renaissance Putto.

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Gallery

File:House of the Vettii VI 15,1 Pompeii 2023 East wall at south end, painted panel of cupids making perfumed oil room q (Mau plan) courtesy of Johannes Eber.jpg|Roman art putti frieze, 75–79 AD, fresco, House of the Vettii, Pompeii, Italy

(2025). 9788809032064, Giunti. ISBN 9788809032064

0 Sarcophage aux Putti - Museo Pio-Clementino (Vatican).JPG|Roman sarcophagus with putti, 160 AD, marble, Vatican Museums, Rome, Italy

File:Roman sarcophagus of a child, with a procession of drunk putti, mid-2nd century AD, marble, found in Rome in 1908 from private ownership, Antikemsammlung, Inv.-Nr. SK 1881, in the Neues Museum (01).jpg|Roman sarcophagus with a procession of drunk putti, which belongs to a child, with a procession of drunk putti, mid-2nd century, marble, Neues Museum, Berlin

File:1058 - Roma, Museo d. civiltà Romana - Calco sarcofago Giunio Basso - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 12-Apr-2008 (cropped).jpg|Roman putti on columns of the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, 389, marble, Museo del tesoro di San Pietro, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

(2025). 9786067107517, ART. ISBN 9786067107517

File:0 Sarcofago di Helena - Museo Pio-Clementino - Vatican (2a).JPG|Roman putto on the Sarcophagus of Helena, 4th century, porphyry, Museo Pio-Clementino, part of the Vatican Museums, Rome

Spiegel KGM K9164.jpg|Gothic art mirror frame, by the Embriachi workshop, 1st half of the 15th century, wood, bone, horn and bone marquetry, Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin, Germany Amor-Attys.Donatello.P1151420.jpg| Amore-Attis, by Donatello, 1436–1438, bronze, Bargello, Florence, Italy

File:Gherardo Di Giovanni - Illustration to a Missal - WGA08671.jpg|Renaissance art putti on a page of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, by Gherardo di Giovanni del Fora, 1474–1476, tempera colors, gold paint, gold leaf, and ink on parchment, Bargello, Florence

Château de Blois-130-Kamin-Salamander-Hermelin Anne de Bretagne-2008-gje.jpg|Renaissance putti on an elaborate fireplace with the crests of François I and Claude de France, in the Salle du Roi, Château of Blois, Blois, France, unknown architect, 1515–1524

Tizian 041.jpg| Assumption of the Virgin, by Titian, 1516–1518, oil on panel, Frari Church, Venice, Italy Ofrenda a Venus.jpg| The Offering to Venus, by Titian, 1518–1519, oil on canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

Codex Durlach 2 Putten streiten um den Brei.jpg|Renaissance putti in the Codex Durlach 2, unknown illustrator, 1520, painted illumination, Baden State Library, Karlsruhe, Germany François duquesnoy, tomba di ferdinando van der eyden, m. 1630, 01.jpg|Baroque putti on the Tomb of Ferdinand van den Eynde, designed and executed by François Duquesnoy, 1633–1640, marble, Santa Maria dell'Anima, Rome, Italy File:Hôtel Colbert de Villacerf 3.jpg|Baroque putti painted on the boiserie of a room from the Hôtel Colbert de Villacerf, now in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris, unknown architect, sculptor and painter, 1650 Detail of the Galerie d'Apollon (14).jpg|Baroque with putti on a door in the Galerie d'Apollon, Louvre Palace, Paris, by Louis Le Vau and Charles Le Brun, after 1661

File:Bedroom from the Sagredo Palace MET DP248831.jpg|Rococo bedroom from the Ca' Sagredo in Venice, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, by Carpoforo Mazzetti Tencalla and Abbondio Stazio, 1720 or later Francois Boucher The Rape of Europa.jpg| The Rape of Europa, by François Boucher, 1732–1734, oil on canvas, Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom File:Relief of Diana, at the Amalienburg.jpg|Rococo relief of Diana with two putti above the entrance of the Amalienburg, Munich, Germany, designed by François de Cuvilliés, 1734–1739 Cabinet de la Pendule. Versailles. 05.JPG|Rococo cartouche with putti in the Cabinet de la Pendule, Palace of Versailles, France, created and sculpted by Jacques Verberckt, 1738 Candelabrum (one of a pair) MET DP-12374-040.jpg|Pair of rococo candelabra, by the Chelsea porcelain factory, 18th century, soft-paste porcelain, Metropolitan Museum of Art File:Pair of vases MET DP170824.jpg|Pair of Chinese vases with French Rococo mounts, the vases: early 18th century, the mounts: 1760–1770, hard-paste porcelain with ormolu mounts, Metropolitan Museum of Art Vuurbok van verguld brons met putti die zich aan een vlam warmen, BK-16904-A.jpg|Louis XVI style andiron with putti that warm themselves at a flame, 1780–1790, ormolu, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands File:Pair of candelabras with putti; France; gilt and patinated bronze; 18th century; MJAP-OA 1646-2.jpg|Louis XVI style candelabrum with putto, late 18th century, gilt and patinated bronze, Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris, France File:Horloge Compiègne MdSE.jpg|Second Empire style (Louis XVI Revival style) clock, unknown sculptor, dial and mechanism by Ferdinand Berthoud, 1860, gilt bronze, Château de Compiègne, France The Birth of Venus by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1879).jpg| The Birth of Venus, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1879, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France

File:Bruxelles 12 rue Van moer 805.jpg|Art Nouveau putti in a sgraffito panel on the House of Jean Baes (Rue Van Moer no. 12), Brussels, Belgium, sgraffito by Henri Baes, 1889

File:21 Avenue Kléber, Paris (01).jpg|Door knocker of Avenue Kléber no. 21, Paris, France, unknown architect and sculptor, 1890

File:Neo-Renaissance cover for music sheets of music by Jan Ladislav Dussek (01).jpg|Renaissance Revival putti on the cover of a magazine with sheets of music by Jan Ladislav Dussek, 1890, ink on paper, private collection

Lampadaire ronde des Amours Gauquié Pont Alexandre III Paris.jpg|Beaux-Arts street light with putti, by Henri Désiré Gauquié, 1896–1900, bronze, Pont Alexandre III, Paris, France

File:Pétrole Stella, advertising poster, 1897.jpg|Art Nouveau putti and a nymph on an advertising poster for Pétrole Stella, by Henri Gray, 1897, coloured lithograph, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., US File:Polychrome Rococo Revival frame, circa 1900, painted metal (02).jpg|Rococo Revival polychrome frame with a putto in a round niche, unknown workshop or designer, 1900, painted metal, private collection

File:41 Bulevardul Regina Elisabeta, Bucharest (03).jpg|Beaux-Arts putti on Bulevardul Regina Elisabeta no. 41, Bucharest, Romania, unknown architect, 1900

Michael powolny e bertold löffler, putto con cornucopia, vienna 1912 ca.jpg|Vienna Secession putto with two with floral cascades, by Michael Powolny, designed in 1907, produced in 1912, ceramic, Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin

File:21 Bulevardul Lascăr Catargiu, Bucharest (03).jpg|Beaux Arts putto on the Vasile Urseanu House, the current Bucharest Observatory (Bulevardul Lascăr Catargiu no. 21), Bucharest, Romania, designed by Ion D. Berindey, 1908–1910 File:29 Strada Tache Ionescu, Bucharest (02).jpg|Renaissance Revival grotesque with putti on the Doctor Răuțoiu House (Strada Tache Ionescu no. 29), Bucharest, designed by Gregoire Marc and Ernest Doneaud, 1910 3 Piața Romană, Bucharest (16).jpg|Beaux Arts stucco with putti on a ceiling in Piața Romană no. 3, Bucharest, Romania, designed by Siegfired Kofsinski and C. Crețoiu, 1912 File:Paris angelot.JPG|Beaux Arts putto on a balcony balustrade of the Hôtel Claridge (Avenue des Champs-Élysées no. 74), designed by Charles Lefebvre or Louis Duhayon, 1914 Immeuble no. 60 rue de Vaugirard à Paris.jpg|Art Deco reliefs of putti on Rue de Vaugirard no. 60, Paris, France, unknown architect, 1930

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See also

• Puer Mingens – Artistic depictions of boys urinating
• Four Kumaras – A group of semi-divine sage boys in Hinduism
• Gohō dōji – Buddhist guardian deities in the form of young boys

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External links

• Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (ca 1,400 images of Amoretti in secular contexts)

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