Definition of "putto" []

• A representation of a small child, often naked and having wings, used especially in the art of the European Renaissance. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "They in turn are flanked, as on the altar of St. Benedict, by two holy bishops, Saints Denis (the putto is holding his head) and Augustine (holding aloft his burning heart)."
• "Measuring 2.90 by 3.77 metres, the drawing includes studies of a female figure with children, a seated male figure and a podgy winged baby, or 'putto', as well as various sketches of arms and a right hand."
• "This crazy group, consisting of leaping bull supported by leaping dolphins, the seated nude, and a confidential putto, somehow manages to convey the conflicting impressions of high speed and pertness."