Blessed Soul (Bernini)

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Blessed Soul
Latin: Anima Beata
Blessed Soul by Bernini.jpg
Artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Year1619 (1619)
Catalogue7
TypeSculpture
MediumMarble
DimensionsLife-size
Location Palace of Spain, Rome
Preceded by Damned Soul (Bernini)
Followed by Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius

The Blessed Soul (Italian : Anima Beata) is a bust by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Executed around 1619, it is a pendant piece to the Damned Soul . [1] [2] Their original location was sacristy of the church of San Giacomo degli Spagnuoli, but they were then moved in the late 19th century, and then to the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See in Piazza di Spagna [3] The set may have been inspired by prints by Karel van Mallery, although they were initially categorized as nymph and satyr.

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Critical reception

Despite being relatively unknown, the Blessed Soul was noted by some visitors to Rome. In particular, the painter Joshua Reynolds stated that the sculpture "has all the sweetness and perfect happiness expressed in her countenance that can be imagined." [4] However, the Blessed Soul has not been considered one of Bernini's finest works in more recent times. Wittkower points to the "doughy hair of the Anima Beata", [3] while Hibbard finds it uninspiring when compared to the Damned Soul, mentioning that 'virtuous appearances' do not translate too well into sculpture. [5]

Recent scholarship on the sculpture has queried whether its topic is not the Christian personifications of blessedness but a depiction of a nymph. [6]

See also

Notes

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<i>Raimondi Chapel</i> Chapel designed by Gianlorenzo Bernini

The Raimondi Chapel is a chapel within the church of San Pietro in Montorio, Rome, Italy. The chapel houses the tombs of two members of the Raimondi family, Francesco and Raimondo. Both the architectural and sculptural elements of the chapel were designed by the artist Gianlorenzo Bernini - it was one of Bernini's first works where the relationship between the sculpture and the architecture was considered as a whole. Elements of the sculptures were executed by other artists in Bernini's circle; Andrea Bolgi did the busts of the two Raimondi brothers and the accompanying putti. Niccolò Sale undertook the reliefs on the tombs, while Francesco Baratta did the larger relief in the central altar. Work on the chapel took place between 1638 and 1648.

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