How does Tomb of Ferdinand van den Eynde elucidate its Style and composition?
The viewer is firstly attracted by the mastery of the artist, the naturalism of the putti, the milky flesh of the infants (with the marble that, according to Rubens, was "softened into living flesh"), and thence led to contemplate their actions.As observed by Bellori:one of them wraps part of his head in the cloth as a sign of sadness and holds in his hand the hourglass of death. This certainly is the most beautiful little putto that Franscesco's chisel animated
Bellori also stressed the act of mourning of the righthand putto, evident in both his expression and the gesture of covering his face with the drape. Yet, at the same time, with his hourglass in hand and his eyes covered, "the putto becomes an infant personification of blind death."
In addition, as noted by Estelle Lingo, "because the infant's posture can be understood as the result of his struggle to lift the drape from the tomb, the figure seems to play upon the theoretical criticism that the infant's youth made him unfit for his 'monumental' task."The putto on the left, on the other hand, appears fully absorbed in raising his side of the cloth: "only after long contemplation the viewer may notice that this infant, too, carries an attribute, the long trumpet of fame. Grasped in his left hand, the instrument is almost entirely covered by the cloth, though the outline of its flared end may be discerned beneath the drape when one looks for it. The use of an attribute so well hidden is surprising, but serves to underscore Duquesnoy's conception of the tomb as a site of meditation, an epigrammatic construction in which a few forms sustain a range of meanings. The monument's literally and figuratively veiled allusions are discovered by the viewer as they respond to the monument, thus completing its meaning. Only when the veil is lifted, and the inscription read, will Eynden's fame be assured."
right putti Rubens left