putto

1. (art) A representation, especially in Renaissance or Baroque art, of a small, naked, often winged (usually male) child; a cherub.Examples: "There is in the porch of the present church a tablet to Luke Flood (died 1818) which has much the appearance of having been made up of portions of earlier monuments. It is surmounted by a bas-relief of a winged boy holding an inverted torch. But not only is he a baby putto, not a youth, and without an urn, but the style and execution scarcely seem worthy of [Thomas] Banks even when not at his best."; "The Carmelite scapulars held by the putto and young male saint on the right indicate that the altarpiece was intended for a church of the Carmelite order."; "A second putto with a gallows in its hand cries at the judge's feet."