Busacca Gallery

Sterling Silver Sculpture Cherub Reclining Putto Angel Centerpiece / Absolutely gorgeous work! A silver figural of a cherub or putti is a spectacular antique sculpture. A Silvered Bronze Cherub Compote Base, 19th Century: 7"T x 6"W x 4-1/2"D A very well cast silvered bronze base to a compote or stand, depicting a reclining putto amongst grapes and instruments on shaped stepped base with regal monogram on crowned shield, raised on feet, reserve on the side with raised initials. Palm frond stem holding a round base for a vessel. Unmarked. Condition: Some wear to silver, round top reattached and not even as depicted. Overall excellent condition. We are committed to enhancing our customer’s lives by discovering creating and pointing out only the best art we can find in the world today. We Are Taste-Makers, Art Advisors & Consultants.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putto

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. In popular culture, putto is also used as a decorative art found on buildings, gardens, and greeting cards as a purveyor of love. 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. 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, Amor/Cupid, the god of love and companion of Aphrodite or Venus; the Roman, genius, a type of guardian spirit; or sometimes the Greek, daemon, a type of messenger spirit, being halfway between the realms of the human and the divine. There are two popular forms of putto in Renaissance: the sleeping putto and the standing putto with an animal or other object. Putti are a classical motif found primarily on child sarcophagi of the 2nd century, where they are depicted fighting, dancing, participating in bacchic rites, playing sports, etc. During the Middle Ages, the putto disappeared 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). Donatello reinvented putto in the Renaissance. 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 putto a distinct character by infusing the form with Christian meanings and using it in new contexts such as musician angels. Putti, cupids, and angels can be found in both religious and secular art from the 1420s in Italy, the turn of the 16th century in the Netherlands and Germany, the Mannerist period and late Renaissance in France, and throughout Baroque ceiling frescoes. So many artists have depicted them that a list would be pointless, but among the best-known are the sculptor Donatello and the painter Raphael. They also experienced a major revival in the 19th century, where they gamboled through paintings by French academic painters, from Gustave Doré’s illustrations for Orlando Furioso to advertisements. A putto plural putti, or poo-tee] is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually nude and sometimes winged. Putti are distinct from cherubim, but some English-speakers confuse them with each other, except that in the plural, "the Cherubim" refers to the biblical angels. While "cherubs" represent the second order of angels, putti are secular, profane and present a non-religious passion. However, in the Baroque period of art, the putto came to represent the omnipresence of God. A putto representing a cupid is also called an amorino plural amorini. Originally, Cherubs and Putti had distinctly different roles, with the former being sacred, and the latter, profane. That is, Cherubs and Seraphs (Cherubim, Seraphim) are Angels, occupying the highest angelic orders in Heaven and are thus the closest to God. On the other hand, Putti, arise from Greco-Roman classical mythos non-Christian. They are associated with Eros/Cupid as well as with the Muse, Erato; the muse of lyric and love poetry Putti – which comes from the Latin, putus, meaning 'little man' – are...not so much babies as they are 'not human'. They are spiritual beings and thus depicted in their typically odd fashion; as winged little people of indeterminate gender. Using babies as models for Putti (or for Cherubs, either) doesn't quite get across the true concept of 'Putti-ness' as they (babies) are too guileless, for one thing, whereas Putti are clever and purposeful. They are there to help Cupid/Eros facilitate the onset of profane love – or secular, non-religious love, as between two people, rather than the love as between a human and God. Probably, it was artists' attempts to avoid simply painting babies that has led to so many rather odd and often ugly, Putti. Sometimes they nailed it, sometimes not. By the time the Baroque Era came about, which might arguably have been the high point for Cherubim and Putti, both of these little beings were usually being depicted in the same way. Which one they were, simply depended upon the theme of the painting or sculpture: If religious (sacred) – they were Cherubs. If secular or mythic (profane) – they were Putti. In either case, they'd be hard to pull off successfully today because most people are unaware of their roles in semiotics, or in philosophy/mythology/history, or in religion. cherub is sometimes used for what are strictly putti — baby or toddler angels in art. Used as deities sometimes found as pairs of colossal statues either side of objects to be protected, such as doorways. wings later came to be bestowed on men, thus forming the stereotypical image of an angel. Early Semitic tradition conceived the cherubim as guardians, being devoid of human feelings, and holding a duty both to represent the gods and to guard sanctuaries from intruders, in a comparable way to an account found on Tablet 9 of the inscriptions found at Nimrud. Cherubim first appear in the Bible in the Garden of Eden, to guard the way to the Tree of life. Many forms of Judaism teach belief in the existence of angels, including Cherubim within the Jewish angelic hierarchy.