Putti and Cupids playing with Swans
after Polidoro da Caravaggio (Caravaggio c.1497 - Messina c.1543)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1637 - 1677
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
356 x 1283 mm (14 x 50 1/2 in)
Place of origin
Italy
Order this imageCollection
Ham House, Surrey
NT 1139829
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Putti and Cupids playing with Swans, after Polidoro da Caravaggio (Caravaggio c.1497 - Messina c.1543). A cupid and a putto in a tub, try to net swans, on the right, one flying away; a putto at the centre dresses on the bank; to the left a putto and a cupid struggle with a swan; on the left a cupid forces a swan into a cage with a decoy on top against a red-brown background. .
Provenance
One of four of a set of six copies after paintings bought by Charles I in 1637, and now at Hampton Court. Installed in the Marble Dining Room between 1677 and 1679; and thence by descent until acquired in 1948 by HM Government when Sir Lyonel, 4th Bt (1854 – 1952) and Sir Cecil Tollemache, 5th Bt (1886 – 1969) presented Ham House to the National Trust, and entrusted to the care of the Victoria & Albert Museum, until 1990, when returned to the care of the National Trust, and to which ownership was transferred in 2002
Credit line
Ham House, The Dysart Collection (purchased by HM Government in 1948 and transferred to the National Trust in 2002)
Makers and roles
after Polidoro da Caravaggio (Caravaggio c.1497 - Messina c.1543), artist