Putto

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".[4] 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 (Middle Persian) pus and pusar, all meaning "son", and the New Persian pesar "boy, son".

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.[5]

Revival of the putto in the Renaissance

Tomb and monument of Ilaria del Carretto by Jacopo della Quercia, c. 1413 (plaster cast in Moscow)

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.

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 putto a distinct character by infusing the form with Christian meanings and using it in new contexts such as musician angels. Putti also began to feature in works showing figures from classical mythology, which became popular in the same period.

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.[6]

Putti, cupids, and angels (see below) 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. The two relaxed and curious putti who appear at the foot of Raphael's Sistine Madonna are often reproduced.[7]

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.

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.[2]

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  Renaissance putto on the ceiling of Stirling Castle (Stirling, Scotland)
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  Design for a frieze with a putto and an acanthus scroll; probably from the 17th century; pen and brown ink with gray and light brown wash; the sheet: 21 × 32.5 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)
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  Rococo ornaments with putti, in the Cabinet de la Pendule, part of the Palace of Versailles (France)
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  The rococo relief of Diana with two putti at the Amalienburg, in Munich (Germany)
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  Pair of Chinese vases with French Rococo mounts; the vases: early 18th century, the mounts: 1760–70; hard-paste porcelain with ormolu mounts; 32.4 x 16.5 x 12.4 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art
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  The Rape of Europa; by François Boucher; circa 1732-1734; oil on canvas; 273.5 x 230.8 cm; Wallace Collection (London, the UK)[8]
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  Rococo putti with two coats of arms; 1746; etching on paper; 7 x 11.3 cm; Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
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  Putto statue; 1746-1748; marble; height: 74 cm, weight: 56 kg; Rijksmuseum
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  Pair of rococo candelabrums; 18th century; soft-paste porcelain; heights (the left one): 26.8 cm, (the right one): 26.4 cm; by the Chelsea porcelain factory; Metropolitan Museum of Art
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  Parisian firedog with putti that warm themselves at a flame; 1780-1790; ormolu; height: 34.5 cm; Rijksmuseum
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  Putto statue in the Parc du Château de Ferney-Voltaire (Ferney-Voltaire, France)
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  Relief on a lunette of the north portal of the Hôtel des Invalides (Paris)

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Putti.

Look up putto in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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