Exhibition of Renaissance ‘angel children’ goes on show in Kraków
Stunning exhibition of Renaissance ‘angel children’ goes on show in Kraków
20:05, 27.06.2024
ew/jd; National Museum Kraków
Stunning exhibition of Renaissance ‘angel children’ goes on show in Kraków A stunning exhibition of Renaissance art showcasing winged infant children known as putti is to go on display at the National Museum in Kraków.
A stunning exhibition of Renaissance art showcasing winged infant children known as putti is to go on display at the National Museum in Kraków.
Including over 100 works of art, the exhibition entitled ‘Winged. Putti in Renaissance Art’ documents the ancient origin, form, and symbolism of 15th–16th century putti. (Photo: National Museum Kraków/YouTube)
Including over 100 works from collections in the Louvre in Paris, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum, the exhibition entitled ‘Winged. Putti in Renaissance Art’ aims to document the ancient origin, form, and symbolism of 15th–16th century putti.
The exhibition’s curator, Professor Marcin Fabiański, said: “The motif originates from antiquity and was often used in Renaissance and Baroque art, when it was given various meanings, not only of small Greek eros and their Latin equivalents, called cupids, i.e. mythical beings, geniuses or spirits—pagan and Christian, but also of various spiritual inhabitants of the Christian heaven, especially small angels, cherubs and seraphim.
“The form of putti is also used in images of ancient gods and historical figures in childhood, for example, the Greek Dionysus, i.e. the Latin Bacchus, the future emperor, the Infant Jesus or the infant St. John the Baptist.”
Originating in the classical world of art, putti were traditionally winged infants, believed to be able to influence human lives.
Disappearing during the Middle Ages, putti saw a revival during the early Renaissance known as the Quattrocento, which has mainly been attributed to Florentine artist Donatello in the 1420s.
Giving the putti a distinct character by infusing them with Christian meanings and using them in new contexts such as musical angels, they also began to feature in works showing figures from classical mythology.
Writing on its website, the National Museum in Kraków said the new exhibition consists of “drawings and illustrations, sculptures, paintings, applied ceramics and fabrics” from Donatello, Albrecht Duerer, Andrea Mantegna, Lorenzo di Credi, and Lucas Cranach the Elder.
The museum said: “The putto instructs us in brief on the essence of the Italian Renaissance and its reception in Europe, including in Poland, as well as providing an opportunity for contact with the output of the most important and greatest artists.”
