A CARVED MARBLE FIGURE OF A CHERUB

This marble putto has been attributed to Raffaello da Montelupo (1504-1567), a Florentine sculptor who worked with Michelangelo, and who was profiled in Vasari's renowned Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. It relates closely to other works by the artist, including a relief of the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine in the church of Santa Maria della Consolazione, Rome, which contains a Christ child with loosely tousled curls much like the present example. The relief also includes many putti, which show strong similarities with the free standing putto, particularly in the construction of the wings and the facial type, sharing the same chubbiness around the lower portion of the face. Other putti by Raffaello, such as the four cherubs that he carved to decorate the pediments in the Basilica Santa Casa in Loreto, likewise show similarities with the physiognomy of the present example, having longer limbs and more defined musculature than is commonly used.