Lot Essay
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
R. Wittkower, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Oxford, 1981, pp. 179-181, cat. no. 12
J. Montagu, Alessandro Algardi, New Haven, 1985, Vol. II, p. 427
J. Montagu, Roman Baroque Sculpture, New Haven, 1989, p. 48
Another example of this bronze exists in the Palazzo Venezia in Rome (which was formerly in the Barsanti Collection). That version of the bronze came from the Casa Ludovisi and was traditionally attributed to Bernini's workshop. Both Munoz and Pollak describe another cast in the Palazzo Massimi, probably the present example, but do not illustrate that work.
The two most famous sculpted portraits of Pope Gregory XV (1621-1623) are those by Bernini in 1621 (cf. Wittkower, pl. 5) and the memorial bronze by Algardi (cf. Montagu, Vol. II, pl. 158). Although the present portrait differs from both of those images in costume, scale and mood, the treatment and detailing of the face and beard are extremely close to those in Bernini's sculpture.
The present bronze has been attributed to Girolamo Lucenti, one of the leading bronze-casters in Baroque Rome. Lucenti worked for both Bernini and Algardi, and also made some of the finest medallic portraits from seventeenth-century Rome.
R. Wittkower, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Oxford, 1981, pp. 179-181, cat. no. 12
J. Montagu, Alessandro Algardi, New Haven, 1985, Vol. II, p. 427
J. Montagu, Roman Baroque Sculpture, New Haven, 1989, p. 48
Another example of this bronze exists in the Palazzo Venezia in Rome (which was formerly in the Barsanti Collection). That version of the bronze came from the Casa Ludovisi and was traditionally attributed to Bernini's workshop. Both Munoz and Pollak describe another cast in the Palazzo Massimi, probably the present example, but do not illustrate that work.
The two most famous sculpted portraits of Pope Gregory XV (1621-1623) are those by Bernini in 1621 (cf. Wittkower, pl. 5) and the memorial bronze by Algardi (cf. Montagu, Vol. II, pl. 158). Although the present portrait differs from both of those images in costume, scale and mood, the treatment and detailing of the face and beard are extremely close to those in Bernini's sculpture.
The present bronze has been attributed to Girolamo Lucenti, one of the leading bronze-casters in Baroque Rome. Lucenti worked for both Bernini and Algardi, and also made some of the finest medallic portraits from seventeenth-century Rome.