**Originally Listed At $300**

European, ca. 19th century CE. A pretty porcelain tile painted with the image of a putto from Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino's famed "Sistine Madonna," which shows Mary holding Christ flanked by Saint Sixtus and Saint Barbara. Resting on his elbows, the winged child props up his head with his left hand and gazes skyward. In the complete painting, this putto is part of a pair that sit beneath the Madonna. These 2 angels are famous in their own right; as early as 1913 American music critic and author Gustav Kobbe stated that "no cherub or group of cherubs is so famous as the two that lean on the altar top indicated at the very bottom of the picture." Size of painting: 4.5" W x 6.5" H (11.4 cm x 16.5 cm); with matte and frame: 9.5" W x 11.75" H (24.1 cm x 29.8 cm)

Heavily marketed, the pair of putti have been featured in stamps, postcards, T-shirts, socks, wrapping paper, and have even inspired legends of their own. According to a 1912 article in Fra Magazine, when Raphael was painting the Madonna the children of his model would come in to watch. Struck by their posture as they did, the story goes, he added them to the painting exactly as he saw them. Another story, recounted in 1912 in St. Nicholas Magazine, says that Raphael was inspired by two children he encountered on the street when he saw them "looking wistfully into the window of a baker's shop.

Provenance: private Rancho Mirage, California, USA collection, by inheritance in 2020; ex-Dr. TDR Berreth, California, USA, acquired before 1982

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#179107

Small area of restoration and repainting in small area of left side beneath putto's wing. Otherwise, intact and excellent. Set in custom matte and frame with some minor nicks and scuffs, none affecting image. Suspension hook on verso for display; has not been examined outside of frame.