Two Putti with Lamb n.d.

Curator: Before us is an intriguing drawing housed here at the Art Institute of Chicago. Though the artist is unknown, it's titled "Two Putti with Lamb" and executed in pen and ink on paper. Editor: It's lovely! There's such tenderness conveyed in those delicate lines. The grouping is quite compelling; what immediately comes to mind is innocence and vulnerability. The lamb, traditionally a symbol of gentleness, seems almost a plaything. Curator: Indeed, but let’s consider the materials and the process. The choice of pen and ink speaks to a tradition of drawing as a preliminary study or a mode of inquiry. The relatively modest means suggest it could be from a larger workshop perhaps, or produced for private contemplation rather than public display. How does the symbolism work in this more intimate context? Editor: The putti themselves—chubby, winged infants—often signify divine love, purity, and, of course, salvation. Paired with the lamb, a powerful Christian symbol of sacrifice and redemption, there is almost a subtle hint to ideas around spiritual rebirth. They aren't just playing, the putti are intimately involved with an emblem that carries immense weight. Curator: Precisely. Think about the availability of paper and ink during the likely period of its creation, whenever that may be. This would've been a valued surface for sketching, so the subject becomes important. There is also the element of labour, these putti, likely products of someone reflecting on the nature of faith and virtue... This also influences our perception, doesn’t it? How labor informs iconography. Editor: It does. Seeing the economic factors behind the artwork brings another element of analysis to consider beyond what first comes to mind looking at it. So in the end it's really impossible to divorce labor and availability from those symbols you spoke of at the start: Salvation and vulnerability. Both are embedded in the image in ways that I hadn't even thought about! Curator: Right! Perhaps this drawing asks us to think about these concepts not as simple ideas, but something with labor, something formed of toil, investment, time and the cost involved. It certainly complicates the perception, I think. Editor: Absolutely. Thank you; I will view images very differently from now on, beyond what one is seeing, and consider the journey involved and who made it, and the message behind why they are.