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Mar6
Cherubs or Putti? – Take your pick
Here at the antique store, we sometimes come across the decorative motif of putti. They are child-like figures with wings and are similar to cherubs but not exactly the same, which leads to the question: what exactly is the difference?
Putti (or are they cherubs?) can be found on child sarcophagi dating from the 2nd century. In the early15th century, they began to appear in works of art, both secular and religious, in Italy and were used by numerous artists including Donatello and Raphael. Their popularity spread to the Netherlands, Germany and Renaissance France.
It is difficult to define the difference between putti and cherubs; a convenient generalization would be to say that cherubs appear in a religious context whereas the genesis of putti is mythic or secular. Another way of looking at it is that the derivation of the word “putto” (the plural is “putti”) is from the same Italian word meaning “child” whereas cherubs are thought of as angelic and not of this world.
So next time you see a cherub/putto, take your pick, the choice is yours.
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