Putto

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The figure of a chubby nude boy, or putto, is a bronze copy of an original wooden sculpture that Gari Melchers and his wife Corinne, brought with them to Belmont from their Holland garden.

Images

Putto

Photo of putto by Frances Benjamin Johnston, 1927

Putto

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Corinne Melchers was a founding member of the Rappahannock Valley Garden Club, a Garden Club of Virginia (GCV) affiliated club, and an active member of the committee that oversaw the restoration of the gardens at both Kenmore in Fredericksburg, and Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County. The GCV is now supporting the restoration of Gari and Corinne Melchers’ garden at Belmont.

In 2008, the restoration committee of the Garden Club began the process to restore the wooden sculpture and commissioned Ross Caudill, foundry technician and adjunct faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University, to produce a copy of the original putto and stonemason Richard Crickenberger to repair its pedestal.

Putto

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Additional Information