Artwork
Putti with a Wine Press
Putti with a Wine Press is an oil painting by the Early Renaissance artist Mariotto Albertinelli. It dates from 1500 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. Created around the year 1500, this oil painting on wood panel belongs to the early Renaissance.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work represents the mythological origin of viticulture through a playful, allegorical scene where the young figures operate the press.
The painting depicts putti, or infant figures, engaged with a wine press, illustrating the invention of wine. This subject aligns with the broader iconography of Dionysus, the god of wine, and themes of intoxication and ecstasy. The work represents the mythological origin of viticulture through a playful, allegorical scene where the young figures operate the press.
It was exhibited under the theme "Dionysus. Intoxication and Ecstasy," confirming its connection to classical mythology and the celebration of wine as a divine gift.
Technique & Style
The work is an oil painting executed on panel in the early 16th century. Mariotto Albertinelli renders the putti in a delicate, almost sculptural modeling of flesh, using soft chiaroscuro that emphasizes their rounded forms against a shallow, luminous space. The composition balances narrative intimacy with decorative patterning, reflecting the transitional stylistic shift from High Renaissance clarity toward the more intimate, lyrical sensibilities of the early Cinquecento.
The panel's rectangular format and smooth wooden support provide a stable ground for the layered oil glazes that build depth in the drapery. Light falls evenly across the scene, accentuating the tactile quality of the fabric folds and the surface of the wine press, while the background remains ambiguously rendered, allowing focus on the figures' interaction. This handling of light and material underscores the painting's formal emphasis on harmony and proportion.
History & Provenance
Putti with a Wine Press was created by Mariotto Albertinelli in 1500, executed in oil on panel. The early ownership history traces the painting to Prof. Pietro Toesca, from whom it was sold c. 1933 to Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi in Florence and Rome. On 7 June 1948, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation made an offer to Contini Bonacossi for a group of twenty-eight paintings that included this work; the offer was accepted on 11 July 1948.
The painting was subsequently gifted in 1952 to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it entered the Samuel H. Kress Collection.
Putti with a Wine Press is held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., as part of the Samuel H. Kress Collection. The work entered the museum in 1952 as a gift from the Kress Foundation, having been acquired by the foundation in 1948 from Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi. Prior to the Kress acquisition, the painting was in the collection of Professor Pietro Toesca. The artwork has been included in the exhibition titled "Dionysus. Intoxication and Ecstasy."
Context
The work was owned by Prof. Pietro Toesca before being sold around 1933 to Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi in Florence and Rome, and then sold in 1948 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York, before being gifted to the National Gallery of Art in 1952. It is catalogued as an oil on panel painting from 1500, attributed to Mariotto Albertinelli. The piece is part of the National Gallery of Art's Samuel H. Kress Collection and was featured in the exhibition Dionysus.
Intoxication and Ecstasy. Scholarly discussion situates the painting within Albertinelli's broader oeuvre and the artistic milieu of early sixteenth‑century Florence.
Overview
Created around the year 1500, this oil painting on wood panel belongs to the early Renaissance. Florentine painter Mariotto Albertinelli, whose career intersected with that of Fra Bartolomeo, produced the work as part of his exploration of classical motifs blended with lingering medieval influences.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Mariotto di Bindo di Biagio Albertinelli (13 October 1474 – 5 November 1515) was an Italian Renaissance painter active in Florence.
