Cherub Heads (recto); Sketches of Heads (verso) n.d.

Editor: This is "Cherub Heads," a drawing in ink on paper by Jacques Parmentier, from around the Renaissance. It shows three chubby, winged baby faces, almost floating. I find their expressions so intriguing - they're cherubs, but they also seem kind of… stern? What do you see in this piece? Curator: Stern, you say? It's fascinating how those plump faces, meant to evoke innocence and divinity, strike you with a certain severity. Consider the cultural memory associated with cherubs. They're not just cute babies with wings. They are guardians, messengers, intermediaries between the earthly and the divine. Parmentier has captured the weight of that role in their gazes. How does the arrangement affect your understanding? Editor: I guess the way they're stacked, one on top of the other, almost like a little tower, does give them a sense of power. But there's also a vulnerability, being so small and exposed on the page. Curator: Precisely! That tension is key. Throughout history, depictions of angels, and especially cherubs, reflect societal anxieties and hopes. Their placement often signifies a hierarchy, a visual embodiment of a cosmic order. Parmentier is playing with these well-established visual cues. Do you notice any subtle distinctions between the faces? Editor: The top one does seem to have a slightly different expression, almost judgmental. And the ink strokes there are a little harsher. Curator: Interesting. It might reflect Parmentier’s own changing perception, even skepticism, towards these idealised figures. The cherub as a symbol had, by this period, accumulated centuries of meaning. Here we see the artist perhaps questioning, reinterpreting, the potency of these ancient visual symbols. Editor: I never thought about cherubs being such loaded symbols! It makes me see the drawing in a whole new way. Curator: Indeed. It’s a potent reminder of how artists constantly negotiate the power of symbols, their echoes across time.