Putti: a ceiling decoration

A tumbling garland of winged cherubs (know as putti in Italian) are joined hand in hand. They encircle the central winged figure of Cupid, the ancient god of love, who with his bow held aloft, has perhaps already released an arrow upon an unsuspecting amorous mortal below. The putti look around dynamically at one another, while only the central Cupid gazes directly at the earthly viewer below. The whimsical nature of this circle of putti suggests the lighter and more joyful aspects of love and human connection.

The composition appears to take inspiration from a cycle of twenty tapestries on the Christian subject of the Eucharist commissioned in 1625 by the Archduchess Isabel Clara Eugenia (1566-1633) for the Monastery of the Descalzas Reales in Madrid, Spain, from the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). A comparable circle of putti to the one found in this painting features in the tapestry depicting The Triumph of Divine Love. Rubens’ preparatory oil painting for this tapestry is also found in the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. While Rubens’ tapestry was designed to hang vertically on a wall, here the putti are seen as if from below, suggesting that the perspective has been altered in order to suit a ceiling piece.