putto

[poo-toh, poot-taw]

noun

Fine Arts.

plural

putti 

1. a representation of a cherubic infant, often shown winged.

putto

/ ˈpʊtəʊ /

noun

1. a representation of a small boy, a cherub or cupid, esp in baroque painting or sculpture See also amoretto

Word History and Origins

Origin of putto¹

1635–45; < Italian: literally, boy < Latin putus

Word History and Origins

Origin of putto¹

from Italian, from Latin putus boy

Example Sentences

Then you step back and get the whole painting, the big picture, and it’s a harsh one, a narrative of victimized innocence, but also — even primarily? — of erotic display, detailed in Europa’s flailing limbs; in the bull Jupiter’s avid eyes; and in the figure of a dolphin-riding putto who playfully mimics Europa’s agonized pose.

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A little plaster putto Cézanne had in his studio — familiar from one of his greatest fruit-strewn still lifes, in the Courtauld Gallery in London — appears several times here as a lumpy, unwieldy assemblage.

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This show includes several other small bronzes by Verrocchio, including the recently conserved “Putto With a Dolphin,” from 1465 or a little later, which was the first Renaissance sculpture made to be beheld from 360 degrees.

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In the middle of the set, a pinstriped putto peed into a fountain.

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But the gilded figure of a plump, graceful cherub, or putto, nagged at him, and when he finally did buy it, in 2012, it set him off down an art-historical detective trail that made him glad he followed his instincts.

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