Two urinating Cupids (recto and verso)

Details

ITALIAN SCHOOL, 17TH CENTURY
Two urinating Cupids (recto and verso)
black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash
4 ¼ x 4 5⁄8 in. (10.5 x 11.9 cm)

Provenance

probably with Charles E. Slatkin Galleries, New York.
Gerald Bronfman (1911-1986) and Marjorie Bronfman, née Schechter (1917-2012), Montreal; by descent to
Corinne Bronfman (1947-2022), Washington DC; by descent to the present owners.

Conditions of sale

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Giada Damen, Ph.D. AVP, Specialist, Head of Sale

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Lot Essay

Regina Slatkin suggested that this small double-sided drawing could be ascribed to Lorenzo Lotto (written communication to the former owners). The drawing is however by a later hand. The motif of urinating putti derives from antiquity and symbolizes Cupid betokening fertility in marriage (see K. Christiansen, ‘Lorenzo Lotto and the Tradition of Epithalamic Paintings’, Apollo, CXXIV, no. 295, 1986, pp. 166-173).

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