Borstbeeld van een kind, naar rechts 1658 - 1677

Wallerant Vaillant rendered this print of a child's bust in the seventeenth century. The child, presented in profile, is set upon a plinth, a conventional method of displaying status through art. The bust form itself has ancient roots, recalling the Roman tradition of sculpted portraits, where the display of ancestors conveyed nobility and authority. This artistic choice connects the child to a lineage of power, subtly suggesting a similar destiny. The corpulent cherubic form, with its full cheeks and a somewhat open mouth, has links to the 'putto' motif from classical antiquity, often seen in Renaissance art, symbolizing innocence and divine love. These "putti" figures are not frozen in time. In fact, they have gone through countless transformations in the collective memory of art history, from pagan Eros figures to Christian angels, reflecting humanity's enduring fascination with the ideal of childhood. They persist and resurface, a testament to the cyclical nature of symbols and their power to engage us on a subconscious level.