Auction of the Cupids

Prints and Drawings

1799

Johann Heinrich Ramberg
German, 1763–1840

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.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Prints and Drawings

Artist: Johann Heinrich Ramberg
Title: Auction of the Cupids
Place: Germany (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 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.)
Credit Line: Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection
Reference Number: 2013.422
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/149500/manifest.json

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.