Not currently on display at the V&A

Cupid playing a harp

Statuette
early 17th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is a gilt bronze statuette made in the early 17th century in Italy. The statuette represents a Cupid playing on a violin and was originally part of the mounts or metal enrichments of a piece of furniture.
This statuette belongs to a group of putti, seven of which are in the V&A collection, mostly holding flutes, harps, tambourines and violins in their hands. They are generally attributed to Nicolò Roccatagliata (active about 1593-1636), although similar pieces were also produced in the workshops of Giuseppe de Levis and Andrea di Alessandro del Brescianino. However, the excellent quality of the cast and gilding, as well as the delicately chiselled drapery, hair and wings, allow us to ascribe them to the studio of Roccatagliata. The majority of these small bronzes were probably made to decorate chairs, wardrobes and other pieces of furniture, as embellishments of this type were extremely popular at the end of the sixteenth century.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleCupid playing a harp (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Gilt bronze
Brief description
Statuette, gilt bronze, Cupid playing a harp, ascribed to Nicolò Roccatagliata, Italy, early 17th century
Physical description
Gilt bronze statuette - furniture ornament, of cupid playing the harp.
Dimensions
  • Height: 12.7cm
  • Width: 9.52cm
Object history
Bought from the Soulages Collection for 16s. 8d. in 1865.
Subject depicted
Summary
This is a gilt bronze statuette made in the early 17th century in Italy. The statuette represents a Cupid playing on a violin and was originally part of the mounts or metal enrichments of a piece of furniture.
This statuette belongs to a group of putti, seven of which are in the V&A collection, mostly holding flutes, harps, tambourines and violins in their hands. They are generally attributed to Nicolò Roccatagliata (active about 1593-1636), although similar pieces were also produced in the workshops of Giuseppe de Levis and Andrea di Alessandro del Brescianino. However, the excellent quality of the cast and gilding, as well as the delicately chiselled drapery, hair and wings, allow us to ascribe them to the studio of Roccatagliata. The majority of these small bronzes were probably made to decorate chairs, wardrobes and other pieces of furniture, as embellishments of this type were extremely popular at the end of the sixteenth century.
Bibliographic references
  • Inventory of Art Objects acquired in the Year 1865. Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol. 1. London : Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 57
  • Robinson, John Charles. Catalogue of the Soulages Collection. London: Chapman & Hall, 1856, p. 120
  • Binnebeke, Emile van.Bronze sculpture : sculpture from 1500-1800 in the collection of the Boymans-van Beuningen Museum. Rotterdam : Het Museum, 1994, pp. 74-75, cat. no. 14
Collection
Accession number
604-1865

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Record createdMay 31, 2000
Record URL
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