Two Busts of Cardinal Scipione Borghese

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Busts of Cardinal Scipione Borghese
Gian lorenzo bernini, ritratto del cardinale scipione borghese, 1632 ca, CCLXV 01.JPG
First version
Bernini ScipioneBorghese.jpg
Second version
Artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Year1632 (1632)
Catalogue31
TypeSculpture
MediumMarble
Dimensions78 cm(31 in)
Location Galleria Borghese, Rome
Coordinates 41°54′50.4″N12°29′31.2″E / 41.914000°N 12.492000°E / 41.914000; 12.492000 Coordinates: 41°54′50.4″N12°29′31.2″E / 41.914000°N 12.492000°E / 41.914000; 12.492000
Preceded by Charity with Four Children
Followed by Tomb of Countess Matilda of Tuscany

Two Busts of Cardinal Scipione Borghese are marble portrait sculptures executed by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1632. Cardinal Scipione Borghese was the nephew of Pope Paul V, and had commissioned other works from Bernini in the 1620s. Both versions of this portrait are in the Galleria Borghese, Rome.

Contents

Description

The busts are quarter length, showing Scipione Borghese in his robes and biretta, as appropriate for his position as a cardinal of the Roman Church. The movement and liveliness of the sitter is one of the busts’ most pertinent features. [1]

The cardinal looks to his right and opens his lips as if to begin speaking. Rather than a static figure in which the sitter's essence in captured by abstracting his character, Bernini has captured a specific gesture to create a likeness that is psychological as well external. The sense of movement is further emphasised by the dramatic creases and folds line his robe, suggesting the movement of his body, and, in the second version, one of the buttons is about to come undone.

Patronage and creation

Both of Bernini's early biographers, Domenico Bernini and Filippo Baldinucci, recount the history of the busts and explain the creation of the second version. [2] [3]

After Bernini had completed the first version, the ‘allustratori’ were polishing the bust when they discovered a significant fracture in the marble across the forehead, disfiguring the face. Bernini was notified and immediately set to work to create a second version with a new block of marble, which took three days according to Domenico Bernini, and fifteen to Baldinucci.

The biographers then recount slightly different stories about how the two versions were unveiled. According to Domenico Bernini, Cardinal Borghese saw the unpolished version and was so impressed he asked that the bust be completed and be shown to his uncle, Pope Paul V. It was then the defect was discovered and Bernini created the second version, which was transported in secret to show to the Pope. But the Cardinal noticed that this was a different version and Bernini revealed the creation of the second bust. Baldinucci's tale differs somewhat – unaware there is a second version, Cardinal Borghese sees the original bust. He expresses pleasure in the work but hides his disappointment in the flaw; Bernini then uncovers the second, unblemished version to which the Cardinal responds with astonishment and pleasure at Bernini's artistry.

Date of the busts

While the existence of the scar across first version explains why the second version was created, both stories should be treated with some suspicion. Much documentation, cited below, proves the busts were finished in 1632 – Pope Paul V, mentioned in both accounts, died in 1621. A document in the State Archive of Modena, dated 8 January 1633, says that "Bernini, commissioned by the Pope, has created a marble bust of Cardinal Borghese, for which he has been recompensed 500 zecchini and a diamond worth 150 scudi". [4]

A letter from the writer Fulvio Testi to the Cardinal to Count Francesco Fontana, 29 January 1633 also talks of the bust, Testi saying it cost 1000 scudi, and that the figure is "truly alive and breathing". [4]

Another document written by Lelio Guidiccioni on 4 June 1633 gives further credence that the portrait was done in 1632. [5] Finally, a receipt in the Borghese archives for 23 December 1632 reveals a payment from the Borghese household to Bernini of 500 scudi. [6]

History and critical reaction

On completion, both busts were taken to the Villa Borghese. They were purchased by the Italian State in 1892, and shown at the Galleria dell’Academia in Venice, until they were reunited with the rest of the collections at the Galleria Borghese in 1908. [4] Restoration on the works took place in 1997. [1]

The first version is often considered the superior version with Howard Hibbard describing Bernini's handling of the marble as giving it a "new dimension of reality". [6] Whilst the second is still clearly the work of Bernini, it is considered much less spontaneous., [7] with Wittkower commenting that it "lacks the animation and vitality of the first one". [8] Others, however, are quite happy to point out the strengths of the second bust, Charles Avery calling it "one of the greatest portraits of all time in any medium, this bust is a work of genius". [9]

Preparatory versions

A bronze version, created from the terracotta bozzetti (preparatory works) done by Bernini, exists in a private collection in New York. [10] There is also a drawing of Scipione Borghese, done in red chalk and graphite, in the Morgan Library in New York. [11] Finally, there is a caricature of the same sitter done by Bernini in the Vatican Library, Italy. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<i>Truth Unveiled by Time</i> (Bernini) Sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

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<i>Bust of Louis XIV</i> (Bernini) Sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

The Bust of Louis XIV is a marble portrait by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It was created in the year 1665 during Bernini's visit to Paris. This sculptural portrait of Louis XIV of France has been called the "grandest piece of portraiture of the Baroque age". The bust is on display at the Versailles Palace, in the Salon de Diane in the King's Grand Apartment.

<i>Bust of Giovanni Battista Santoni</i> Sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

The Bust of Giovanni Battisti Santoni is a sculptural portrait by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Believed to be one of the artist's earliest works, the bust forms part of a tomb for Santoni, who was majordomo to Pope Sixtus V from 1590 to 1592. The work was executed sometime between 1613 and 1616, although some have dated the work as early as 1609, including Filippo Baldinucci. The work remains in its original setting in the church of Santa Prassede in Rome.

<i>Bust of Cardinal Escoubleau de Sourdis</i> Sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

The Bust of Cardinal Escoubleau de Sourdis is a marble portrait sculpture by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Executed in 1622, the work depicts François de Sourdis. It is currently in the Musée d'Aquitaine in Bordeaux, France.

<i>Bust of Pope Paul V</i> Busts by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

The Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini made two Busts of Pope Paul V. The first is currently in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. 1618 is the commonly accepted date for the portrait of the pope. In 2015, a second bust was acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. It was created by Bernini 1621, shortly after the death of Paul V, and commissioned by his nephew, Cardinal Scipione Borghese. A bronze version of this sculpture exists in the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark.

<i>Bust of Alessandro Peretti di Montalto</i> Marble portrait bust by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

The Bust of Alessandro Peretti di Montalto is a portrait sculpture by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Executed in 1622 and 1623, the sculpture is now in the Kunsthalle Hamburg, in Germany. Although possibly mentioned by one of Bernini's early biographers, the bust had been considered lost and therefore makes no appearance in Rudolf Wittkower's catalogue of Bernini’s sculptures of 1955. However, the bust was identified in the 1980s and is now considered an authentic work by Bernini.

<i>Bust of Pope Gregory XV</i> Sculpture by Gianlorenzo Bernini

The Bust of Pope Gregory XV is a marble portrait sculpture by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Executed in 1621, the work is one of three busts of the subject created by Bernini—the other two were bronze casts. The marble bust is on permanent display at the Art Gallery of Ontario. It was donated to the museum by Joey and Toby Tanenbaum.

<i>Busts of Pope Innocent X</i> Sculptures by Gianlorenzo Bernini

The Busts of Pope Innocent X are two portrait busts by the Italian artist Gianlorenzo Bernini of Pope Innocent X, Giovanni Battista Pamphili. Created around 1650, both sculptures are now in the Galleria Doria Pamphili in Rome. Like the two busts of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, it is believed that Bernini created a second version of the bust once a flaw was discovered in the first version. There exist several similar versions of the bust done by other artists, most notably Alessandro Algardi.

Busts of Pope Urban VIII Sculptures by Gianlorenzo Bernini

Several sculpted busts of Pope Urban VIII were created by the Italian artist Gianlorenzo Bernini, with varying amounts of assistance from other artists in his workshop:

  1. Palazzo Barberini, Rome, 1623–1624. Marble.
  2. San Lorenzo in Fonte, 1626. Marble. Assistance by Giuliano Finelli.
  3. Galleria Nazionale di Arte, Palazzo Barberini, Rome, 1637–1638. Marble.
  4. Galleria Nazionale di Arte, Palazzo Barberini, Rome. Early 1640s. Marble. Largely the work of an assistant.
  5. Louvre, Paris. 1640. Bronze.
  6. Cathedral of Spoleto, 1642. Bronze.
  7. Collection Principe Enrico Barberini. Early 1640s. Porphyry. Adapted from existing antique statue, largely by assistants.
  8. Private Collection. 1658. Bronze

References

  1. 1 2 'Scipione Borghese' in Bernini Scultore La Tecnica Esecutiva, ed. Anna Coliva, 2002, pps.216-233
  2. ↑ Domenico Bernini, Vita del Cavalier Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, 1713, pp 10-11
  3. ↑ Filippo Baldinucci, Vita del Cavaliere Gio. Lorenzo Bernino, translated by Catherine Enggass, 1966, p. 12
  4. 1 2 3 Italo Faldi, Galleria Borghese : le sculture dal secolo XVI al XIX, 1954, p.38
  5. ↑ Cesare, D'Onofrio, Roma vista da Roma, p.386
  6. 1 2 Howard Hibbard, Un nuovo documento ... , Bolletino dell'Arte, 1961, pps.101-5
  7. ↑ Maurizio and Marcello Fagiolo dell’ Arco, Bernini: una introduzione al gran teatro del barocco, entry no. 69
  8. ↑ Rudolf Wittkower, Bernini, 1955, p.200
  9. ↑ Charles Avery, Bernini, Genius of the Baroque, 1997, p.88
  10. ↑ A "Bronzetto" of Scipione Borghese by Bernini. Mark S. Weil. Source: Notes in the History of Art, Vol. 8/9, No. 4/1 (Summer/Fall 1989), pp. 34-39. Published by: Ars Brevis Foundation. Article url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23202695
  11. ↑ "Gian Lorenzo Bernini - Portrait of Cardinal Borghese - The Morgan Library & Museum - Collections". Archived from the original on 2010-06-13. Retrieved 2015-02-22.
  12. ↑ Petersson, R.T. (2002). Bernini and the Excesses of Art. M & M, Maschietto & Ditore. p. 109. ISBN   9788887700831 . Retrieved 2015-02-22.
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