Putti couple; France, 19th century.

Putti couple; France, 19th century.
"The sons of Bacchus".
Bronze and black and green marble bases.
Both signed are signed "A. Vetu".
Measurements: 38 x 16 x 16 cm (x2).
This is a pair of 19th century French sculptures, conceived with great technical finesse and a decorative sense typical of the academic taste of the time. Both pieces, cast in patinated bronze and elegantly enhanced on solid black and green marble bases, represent with childlike grace the so-called "Sons of Bacchus".
Each bust shows a delicate treatment of the facial features, with rounded cheeks, full lips and curly hair that frame the faces with an almost angelic freshness. One of them symbolizes Flora, goddess of spring, adorned with a floral crown and garlands that evoke the fertility of nature and the cyclical renewal of life. The other embodies the Vine, intimately linked to the Bacchic cult, with bunches of grapes and branches that recall the joyful drunkenness and abundance associated with wine.
The contrast between the two busts not only establishes a visual play of balance, but also a symbolic narrative: together they represent the union of flowering nature and the fruit of the vine, a classic metaphor for vital pleasure, youth and Dionysian celebration. The choice of two-tone marble for the bases reinforces the sensation of nobility and durability, creating a support on a par with the refinement of the bronzes.
These sculptures, of harmonious proportions, condense in small format the nineteenth-century aesthetics of the classical revival and the fascination for mythological iconography.