Object Image

A Fountain with Three Putti Trapping a Swan

Sporting around a fantastical fountain, three infants tame a wild swan by trapping it with a flower garland. This overdoor painting, in its original frame, demonstrates how Jacques de Lajoue II incorporated a witty quotation from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel into a light-hearted scheme.

This overdoor and its companion of two putti and an infant fawn taming a lioness (acc. no. 2833.1) may have originally been paired with two other works. Lajoue painted many overdoor paintings in series of fours showing different themes. There are two related paintings of putti with a sheep and an ostrich, although these seem to be of an earlier date and of a higher quality. There is also a slightly smaller pai...

1730-1740
Oil on canvas
876.0 x 1448.0mm
2833.2
Images and text © Waddesdon Manor, 2017

Where you'll find this

Waddesdon Manor
Permanent collection