Amor en putti slijpen hun pijlen 1806 - 1874

Curator: Ah, this engraving! “Amor en putti slijpen hun pijlen,” or "Cupids Sharpening Their Arrows," by Julien-Léopold Boilly, created sometime between 1806 and 1874. Editor: My first thought is: Mischief! Utter, delightful mischief. Look at their little faces, each cherubic troublemaker seems absolutely engrossed in weaponizing love, or at least its potential for playful chaos. Curator: Precisely! Boilly was so good at capturing the essence of genre painting. He has these figures just caught in a candid moment, which contrasts so wonderfully with the idealized Neoclassical style, the era of grand historical pronouncements in art. Instead, we see putti, seemingly prepping for their day jobs, almost as though in a workshop. Editor: Exactly, they're workers in the industry of affection, literally grinding away to produce an arsenal of amorous weaponry! In the socio-political context, one has to ask who profits from this particular kind of production of love? Is it free, or controlled and commodified? What narratives about gender and desire are normalized in this construction of idealized bodies and weapons? Curator: Those are heavy questions for such lighthearted cherubs! Still, you’re right, they remind me of clockwork mechanisms or some miniature version of war. But for Boilly, it felt more like poking fun. Look at the laziness of that dominant figure of Love – lounging amidst the labor like a bored supervisor! A perfect touch. He’s enjoying the…fruits of their labor. I wonder what stories this could tell, of hierarchy and delegation of affection. Editor: It is more complex than it seems, you know? These visuals also participate in discourses that glorify imperial conquest through depictions of Western beauty ideals in idealized bodies, with their gazes that affirm systems of dominance...Even an image about Love carries traces of oppressive frameworks. It forces us to unpack it. Curator: I see what you mean... All these centuries later, these mischievous cherubs still hold up a mirror – to beauty standards, to privilege. A reminder that even art that seems like pure escapism has layers to peel back. Editor: Exactly. Now when you next experience what you think is love at first sight... think again... who might be sharpening the arrow for it. And who benefits.