Home — Antiques –– Italian Antiques –– 17th Century Marble Child Bust
17th Century
Marble Child Bust
This 17th-century Italian bust of a child reflects the Baroque era’s fascination with innocence and devotion. With softly rounded cheeks, delicately modelled lips, and wavy hair, the sculptor has captured a lifelike presence that made such figures prized in chapels, palaces, and private collections alike.
Marble busts of children — often referred to as putti — were central motifs in Italian art of the period, symbolising both the divine and the fleeting nature of life.
Product Details
Period: 17th century
Origin: Italy
Material: White marble
Height: 51cm (on stand)
Length: 27cm
Condition: Excellent, with natural signs of age
Historical Context:
Putti — the sculpted figures of chubby, youthful children — became a hallmark of Italian Renaissance and Baroque art. Their origins can be traced back to antiquity, where similar child figures appeared in Greco-Roman reliefs as symbols of love, fertility, and the cycle of life.
By the 15th and 16th centuries, Italian artists revived these motifs, transforming them into central decorative and symbolic elements in painting, sculpture, and architecture. In Christian art, putti were often depicted as cherubs, representing divine love and the innocence of the soul, frequently adorning altarpieces, tombs, and chapels. Beyond the religious sphere, they also appeared in secular contexts, embodying joy, abundance, and the fleeting nature of childhood.
In the 17th century, during the Baroque period, putti became increasingly expressive and lifelike. Sculptors in marble and stucco placed them as guardians in church interiors, embellishments in palaces, or as intimate portrait busts memorialising children of noble families.
Visit A.A. Knoop
To Shop Italian Antiques
This white marble child bust is available to view and purchase in-store.
A.A. Knoop does not sell items online—visit our store in Amsterdam to explore and acquire pieces from our collection:
Home — Antiques –– Italian Antiques –– 17th Century Marble Child Bust