Two Cherubs in Flight Putti Flying in Sky Pin

Playful Flight Overhead: The Two Cherubs Pin

Two plump little figures tumble through the air in gold plated pewter. Their limbs are intertwined, as if racing across the heavens. The two cherubs pin takes its subject from a painting by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Hans Rottenhammer.

This cherub brooch measures just over an inch across, with every wing and curled limb cast in relief.

Product Details

• Material: 24 karat gold plate over pewter
• Dimensions: 1.25 in H x 1.2 in L
• Style: Baby angel pin, two putti in flight
• Collection note: Putti jewelry from the Art Gallery of Ontario collection
• Origin: Made in USA

A Dream Painted by Two Hands

The pin follows The Dream of Raphael, a painting made by two artists. Hans Rottenhammer was a German painter who worked in Munich and Venice. Jan Brueghel the Elder of Antwerp added the landscape.

They made small paintings on copper for collectors' cabinets. The Mauritshuis in The Hague owns a Rest on the Flight into Egypt of 1595 made this way. Rottenhammer painted the angels and Holy Family. Brueghel finished the woods, flowers and donkey.

Putti and Cherubs

Putti come from the Eros figures of Greek and Roman art. In the late fifteenth century artists revived classical myth, and Cupid became a plump child. Italian painters of the Madonna also used putti to portray cherubim.

That is why putti jewelry can read as classical or as sacred. A baby angel pin keeps both meanings.

On a Collar or a Coat

Pin the two cherubs pin to a collar, a coat or a hat. It lies flat, so it suits knits and scarves. Wipe it with a dry cloth. A cherub brooch looks best alone.

Find more small sculptures in metal in our Museum Jewelry Pins and Brooches. Putti jewelry mixes well with pearls.

About the Two Painters

Jan Brueghel the Elder lived from 1568 to 1625 in Flanders. Hans Rottenhammer lived from 1564 to 1625. He became known in Venice for small, highly finished cabinet paintings on copper. The two cherubs pin is a late echo of those collectors' pictures.

For More Reading from the Web

• Learn where the plump flying child came from, and why artists used it for cherubim. Every baby angel pin borrows that history. Putto - Encyclopaedia Britannica
• See how Rottenhammer and Brueghel shared one small copper panel. The two cherubs pin comes from the same partnership. Rest on the Flight into Egypt - Mauritshuis
• Read about the Munich painter and his Venetian years. A cherub brooch like this starts with painters like him. Hans Rottenhammer - Wikipedia