Artwork
Dancing Putto Holding a Drapery
Dancing Putto Holding a Drapery is an ink drawing by the Renaissance artist Filippino Lippi. It dates from 1495 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Filippino Lippi, an Italian painter of the late 15th century, produced a pen-and-brown‑ink drawing on laid paper dated to around 1495. The work, titled *Dancing Putto Holding a Drapery*, presents a single figure—a youthful, winged child—caught in a lively, twisting pose while grasping a strip of cloth.
Subject & Meaning
The central figure is a putto, a motif drawn from classical and Christian iconography that often symbolizes innocence or divine presence. Here the putto’s exuberant movement and the drapery it clutches suggest a playful, almost theatrical gesture rather than a strictly narrative scene.
Technique & Style
Executed with quick, fluid pen strokes, the drawing relies on varied line weight and cross‑hatching to model volume and suggest texture. The brown ink on the textured laid paper creates a subtle tonal range, while the loose handling conveys immediacy and the artist’s confidence with minimal materials.
History & Provenance
Created during Lippi’s Florentine period, the drawing reflects his broader practice of producing preparatory studies for larger compositions. It survives as an independent work, likely retained in the artist’s studio inventory before entering a private collection in the 19th century, where it remains documented.
Context
Lippi’s oeuvre is dominated by religious frescoes and altarpieces, yet his drawings frequently explore secular or mythological subjects. The putto motif appears in several of his contemporaries’ works, indicating a shared visual language among Florentine artists who blended classical motifs with Renaissance naturalism.
Artist & collection
Artist
Filippino Lippi (probably 1457 – 18 April 1504) was an Italian Renaissance painter mostly working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance.
Pietà (The Dead Christ Mourned by Nicodemus and Two Angels)
Tobias and the Angel
The Adoration of the Child
The Coronation of the Virgin
Portrait of a Youth
The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Margaret
The Meeting of Joachim and Anne outside the Golden Gate of Jerusalem
Portrait of a young man
![Two Standing Putti [recto], by Italian 17th Century](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/italian-17th-century--two-standing-putti-recto--30f23a10b90bc89e-w320.webp)
