What does putto mean?
A putto is a small, usually winged child represented in art, particularly in Renaissance and Baroque sculpture, frescoes, paintings, and decorative architecture. Putti commonly appear in pairs or groups, carrying garlands, fruit, musical instruments, or other symbolic objects, and their rounded bodies and lively expressions contribute to the playful character of many decorative schemes. The word can also be used figuratively for a lively, mischievous child, although this sense is less common than the art-historical one. Borrowed from Italian, where putto originally meant a boy or child, the English term is pronounced with a short stressed vowel and an unstressed ending: “PUT-oh.” Its plural is usually putti, pronounced “POO-tee,” while puttoes is also occasionally used. Although often associated with cherubs, a putto is more specifically a childlike artistic figure and need not carry the same explicitly religious or angelic identity.
nounA figure of a winged infant or young child, especially one appearing in Renaissance and Baroque art. The term is also sometimes used more generally for a mischievous young child.
- A figure of a winged infant or young child, especially in Renaissance and Baroque art; by extension, a mischievous or playful child.
"The marble capitals are decorated with pairs of smiling winged putti holding garlands."
"A sculptor carved a pair of putti from the façade of the church."
"The novel's young protagonist is described as a putti, always darting from one room to the next."
The traditional plural is putti; puttoes is also accepted, especially in modern English.
"The sculptor placed two putti on either side of the doorway."
Putti are the smiling, airborne children who have fluttered through Renaissance and Baroque art for centuries.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does putto come from?
The English word was borrowed from Italian putto, meaning a boy or child. Italian putto ultimately comes through Latin forms associated with pus, an old word for a boy or child, and the artistic sense developed from representations of such child figures. The plural putti retains the Italian form and is now more characteristic of English usage than the regularized puttoes.
Related word forms
How putto is actually used
In its principal art-historical sense, the word is chiefly associated with Italian Renaissance and Baroque decorative sculpture, fresco, and painting. Its figurative use for a lively or mischievous child is playful and relatively uncommon.
Easily confused with putto
A putto is specifically a childlike figure, often winged, whereas a cherub may be represented more generally as an angel.