Putti Playing with Goat

Art Historical Context

This delicate drawing by Conte Antonio Maria Zanetti the Elder captures a lively scene of putti—cherubic figures from classical mythology—frolicking with a goat. The composition evokes themes of playful innocence and harmony with nature, motifs that have long appealed to audiences since antiquity and remained popular in European art through the 18th century. Zanetti, a Venetian artist and collector active in the Baroque-to-Rococo transition, likely created such works as studies or decorative designs that celebrate lighthearted, pastoral subjects. Executed in brush and brown wash on ivory laid...