The putti are of the type that often flank Venetian wall tombs and presumably came from such a monument. They hold shields with the arms of the Badoer (a.59-1951) and Giustiniani families, which in 1498 were united by the marriage of Agnesina Badoer to Giovanni Giustiniani. Agnesina left provision in her will to complete a chapel in San Francesco della Vigna, Venice, and the putti are by the same hand as the sculpture in the chapel.
Physical description
Putti holding a shield with a coat of arms. He has his left knee flexed, and holds a shield with his right hand. He is naked save for a veil, which crosses his right shoulder and upper arm and is held in place in the centre of the body by his left hand, and covers one corner of the shield. The shield is carved with the arms of Giustiniani.
Place of Origin
Venice, Italy (made)
Date
ca. 1500 (made)
Artist/maker
Pietro Lombardo, born 1430 - died 1515 (after, artist)
Materials and Techniques
Marble
Dimensions
Height: 62.8 cm, Width: 23.2 cm, Depth: 17.5 cm, Weight: 30 kg
Object history note
Given by Dr. W. L. Hildburgh, F. S. A., 1951.
Descriptive line
Statuette, marble, putto with a shield with the arms of Giustiniani, in the style of Pietro Lombardo, Italy (Venice), about 1500
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Pope-Hennessy, John. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Volume I: Text. Eighth to Fifteenth Century. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964, p. 351
Mariacher, Giovanni. Storia dell' Arte in Italia, La Scultura del Cinquecento, Turin, 1987, p. 45
attributed to Tullio Lombardo
Schulz, Anne Markham, in collaboration with Morresi, Manuela and Rossi, Toto Bergamo. La Cappella Badoer-Giustinian in San Francesco della Vigna, Venice, Florence, 2003, pp. 35-36, 85 n. 102, figs VII-XII
Labels and date
TWO PUTTI WITH SHIELDS
About 1500
The putti, holding shields with the arms of Badoer (right) and Giustiniani (left), are of the type that often flank Venetian wall tombs and presumably come from such a monument. The two families were united by the marriage of Agnesina Badoer to Girolamo Giustinian in 1498. Agnesina left provision in her will to complete a chapel in San Francesco della Vigna, Venice, and these putti are by the same hand as the sculpture in the chapel.
Italy, Venice
Marble
Museum nos. A.58, 59-1951
Given by Dr W.L. Hildburgh FSA [2008]
Materials
Marble
Subjects depicted
Crown; Shield; Putto; Eagle (double headed); Escutcheon (coat of arms)
Categories
Sculpture
Collection code
SCP
