Study for a Hovering Putto

Entry

The museum purchased these four hovering putti at an Amsterdam sale in 1891 (for the other three, see BK-NM-9350, -9351 and -9353). The ensemble was then ascribed to François du Quesnoy (1597-1643): an attribution that was no doubt based on the affinity with the putto type popularized in the north by that sculptor.¹ Although the heightened charm and extreme stylization of the present children indicate they came about in the eighteenth century, comparison with Du Quesnoy’s epitaph of Ferdinand van den Eynde in the Santa Maria dell’ Anima in Rome suggests that this too is a design for a funerary or memorial monument.² The putti, like the cherubs on that epitaph, appear to be hovering and together holding aloft a piece of drapery: a common motif in funerary sculpture. A second possibility is that they held the drapery to form a canopy above some sort of structure. In that case, they might, for instance, have been part of a design for an altarpiece or pulpit.³ Cherubs in similar poses can be seen on Michiel van der Voort’s richly decorated, so-called naturalistic pulpit of 1714 in Antwerp Cathedral, where they circle the soundboard, conceived in the form of a canopy.⁴ In view of the poses and direction in which the present putti are looking, there will have been two at the top (BK-NM-9350; BK-NM-9352) and two somewhat lower down (BK-NM-9351; BK-NM-9353).

Haks thought he recognized the hand of Jan Baptist Xavery (1697-1742) in the terracottas and in 1973 Leeuwenberg catalogued the putti as such, dating them to the second quarter of the eighteenth century.⁵ Although there is some kinship with his type of putto (cf. BK-1983-21; BK-1965-21; BK-1951-25), Xavery’s children are generally more slender, more elegant and less expressive than these putti. Also, he left their eyes blank, whereas the eyes of three of the present putti have incised pupils. Xavery’s contemporary, Laurent Delvaux (1696-1778) would be a better candidate to have been their maker. The physiognomy and plumpness of the little bodies are very similar to his sculptures, as comparison with the naked boy Jesus in his terracotta study for Joseph with Christ Child confirms (BK-1951-25). Parallels can also be found in his oeuvre for the somewhat more muscular body of the seated putto.⁶ The eyes of his putti (in both terracotta and marble versions) generally have pupils that have been identically fashioned, thus enhancing their often very animated facial expression.⁷ Lastly, there are good analogies in Delvaux’ oeuvre for the various hairstyles of the putti, from wavy to straight.

Many funerary monuments, altars and pulpits are known by Delvaux which contain hovering angels of this type.⁸ They are still deeply rooted in the baroque tradition of Du Quesnoy, whose work he studied thoroughly when he was staying in Rome from 1728 to 1732.⁹ The hovering, climbing and scrambling cherubs in Antonio Raggi’s stucco decoration of the dome in Sant’Andrea al Quirinale in Rome which Delvaux carefully copied into his sketchbook might well have formed an example for him.¹⁰

Bieke van der Mark, 2025