Two Putti for a Pilaster <span>In this study, two surprisingly muscular cherubs sit on a lion’s skin. Subtly modeled in red chalk, one cherub hangs a garland while the other gazes out at us, his finger up to his lips. The garland, lion’s skin, and cherubs’ physiques recall the story of Hercules. Ovid writes in the <span style="font-style:italic;">Metamorphoses</span> that in preparation for his death “Hercules spread as quilt the lion’s skin, and used his club as pillow, and lay there, no more troubled than a feaster at a great banquet, garland-crowned.”<br /><br />By the end of the fifteenth century, artists started drawing with red chalk by itself, exploring the range of a single color. The strong modeling and compact shallow space in this drawing suggest that it is a sketch for a decorative column.</span> Anonymous Parmese 16th century - drawing 434.1999