Allegory of fidelity - Italy Late 16th century

This white marble sculpture depicts a toddler reclining on a raised cushion. His chubby body is finely sculpted, with particular attention to detail on the fingers of his hands and feet. His expression is playful, marked by a broad smile. His finely worked hair frames his youthful face. He is dressed in a simple tunic that covers only one of his shoulders, revealing part of his torso.
At the child's feet stands a young dog, holding its ear in a gesture of playful complicity. This particular iconography highlights the relationship between child and animal, expressing a moment of tenderness and lightness.
The dog, often present in artistic representations throughout the ages, can take on a variety of meanings. In Antiquity, they accompanied man both in daily life and in death. They may appear on altars or in funeral banquet scenes. His presence at the child's side could echo his psychopomp role, guiding souls into the afterlife.
In Egyptian culture, the dog is associated with Anubis, funerary god and protector of necropolises. Over time, the dog became a faithful companion to man, particularly to the Greeks and Romans, where it joined the household and participated in the hunt. During the Middle Ages, the dog was depicted in illuminations, sometimes as a hunting companion, sometimes alongside notables on horseback rides.
However, the depiction of this happy child, sharing a moment of complicity with the dog, is clearly distinct from funeral iconography. Indeed, although some of the sculptures placed above the coffins of dead children feature children lying down accompanied by young dogs as a sign of fidelity until death, this work seems to be in a completely different register. Its expressive, lively character is more reminiscent of a tender scene than a commemorative one.
In this sculpture, the dog could symbolize both childlike affection and loyalty. This piece bears witness to a rich iconography, rooted in the history of animal representations.
Another example is a 1st-century white marble sculpture based on a 3rd-century Greek model in the Musée de la Romanité in Nîmes. This sculpture shows a young child with a playful expression, wrapping his chubby little arms around his dog.
Our toddler is in the vein of the putti, increasingly present in the art of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries under the influence of ancient models. This theme was widely exploited by a Renaissance that exalted humanism.