Putti dansen rond een boom c. 1670 - 1690

Curator: This etching, residing here at the Rijksmuseum, is entitled "Putti Dancing Around a Tree." Though made by an anonymous artist, it’s dated circa 1670 to 1690, so very much a work of the late Baroque period. Editor: It’s quite charming, this playful energy. All these chubby cherubs cavorting around… it gives a real sense of buoyant, carefree innocence. Curator: Well, remember this is the Baroque era. Allegory was everything. While the cherubs appear carefree, they also could be carriers of cultural messages regarding the relationship between childhood innocence and play as symbols of wealth and luxury, common to that period. The garden backdrop could hint at Paradise, referencing the allegorical fall from grace of mankind through sin. Editor: Ah, so the uninhibited joy and carefree antics hint at a deeper symbolic layer? The children dancing are perhaps metaphors of something more intricate. What about the weaponry held by some figures? Do these bear a connection to the tree's symbolism? Curator: It is a possibility. We cannot forget that war impacted this society, even during times of apparent prosperity. It served to indicate a relationship between violence and childhood innocence, the end of said innocence during adulthood due to war-related circumstances. Editor: It is very sad, isn’t it? Even though, at first glance, we observe a depiction of jovial merrymaking, a look deeper gives the piece a layer of depth. All in all, it brings something refreshing, almost soothing, and not something melancholic like what other pieces depict in that period. Curator: A point to bear in mind the next time we are faced with artwork depicting children! Editor: Yes, indeed, another set of eyes to add depth!