Entourage de FRANÇOIS DUQUESNOY (Bruxelles, 1597... Lot n° 16

VANITY WITH A LITTLE WINGED LOVE 17th century White marble H. 24 cm, W. 56 cm, D. 32 cm The numerous studies of naked children left by François Duquesnoy, in parallel with his sculpted work, will have favored the diffusion of the motif in his circle of artists. Here, it is a small winged love lying on its side, on a catafalque. His quiver has slipped down his back. With his left hand, he presents an hourglass while his foot rests on a skull with a leaning bone structure. If the posture of our little love evokes Duquesnoy's study of a reclining child (fig. 1), the theme is to be compared with his Funerary Genie in ivory (fig. 2).