Cherub 

This is Federico Barocci’s drawing "Cherub," made sometime between 1535 and 1612, and it is currently located in the Städel Museum. Barocci was an Italian Renaissance artist whose work bridged the art of the High Renaissance and the Baroque. Here, a seemingly innocent child is depicted as a cherub, one of the Angelic Choir. In the Renaissance, childhood became a symbolic project, laden with cultural and religious meaning. The cherub motif itself, while intending to evoke divinity, is often interpreted through contemporary lenses as a symbol of sentimentalized innocence. Note the downcast gaze of the figure. What narratives of vulnerability and power are woven into this tender depiction? How might the identity of a child, then and now, be shaped by societal expectations? This drawing invites us to reflect on how notions of innocence are constructed, and how they intersect with cultural and religious ideals.