Johann Heinrich Ramberg
German, 1763–1840
Auction of the Cupids
INV-1495
Johann Heinrich Ramberg
German, 1763–18401799
Auction of the Cupids
Johann Heinrich Ramberg German, 1763–1840 →etchingprint
Date
1799
Medium
Etching on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 28.8 × 38.7 cm (11 3/8 × 15 1/4 in.); Plate: 31.5 × 41 cm (12 7/16 × 16 3/16 in.); Sheet: 34 × 42.2 cm (13 7/16 × 16 5/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection
For the Auction of the Cupids, Johann Heinrich Ramberg combined his classicizing aspirations with frothy, titillating humor. The scene depicts winged putti being sold to the highest bidder in a verdant landscape. These charmed infants seem to gravitate naturally into the hands and under the skirts of the young and buxom; they are more reluctant to stay confined in the baskets of the elderly hags hoping for one more chance at love.
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