Haardplaat met een lauwerkrans tussen twee putti c. 1650 - 1700

This is a cast iron fireback plate, adorned with two putti holding a laurel wreath. The laurel, esteemed since antiquity, symbolizes triumph, immortality, and eternal glory. Here, it’s tenderly held by putti, figures descended from Cupid and Psyche, embodying divine love and innocence. The image of children or putti, so innocent, holding a laurel wreath, symbolizing triumph and divinity, might at first seem innocent, however, can be understood in light of the persistence of memory: In ancient Rome, a laurel wreath crowned military victors, yet here, it crowns the domestic hearth. This illustrates the wreath’s evolution. But what are the implications of the fact that the laurel wreath is held up by putti? Perhaps it suggests a longing for lost innocence, a memory of purer times intertwined with aspirations of victory. The cyclical journey of symbols reminds us that art and the human experience are in perpetual conversation, continuously reshaping and reimagining our collective story.