St Philip Neri thumbnail 1
St Philip Neri thumbnail 2
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St Philip Neri

Bust
ca. 1625 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This terracotta bust representing Saint Philip Neri is made by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, in Rome in ca. 1625.
It appears to have been based on the death mask of the Saint preserved at Santa Maria in Vallicella.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) was a prolifiic sculptor, architect, painter and draughtsman. He was celebrated for his astonishing ability to produce 'living' marble sculpture. Bernini produced a series of dramatic over-life-size sculptures for Cardinal Scipione Borghese, including Pluto and Proserpine, Apollo and Daphne and David. One of Bernini's greatest works is the Cornaro Chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome, which houses the famous Ecstacy of St Theresa. Bernini was patronised by a succession of popes and worked extensively at St Peter's Basilica, where he created the baldacchino (canopy), Cathedra Petri and two papal tombs, as well as designing St Peter's Square with its colonnades, and the great ceremonial staircase to the Vatican Palace.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Bust
  • Bust St Philip Neri Fragments
TitleSt Philip Neri (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Terracotta
Brief description
Bust, terracotta, Saint Philip Neri, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Italy (Rome), ca. 1625
Physical description
The base of the bust is curved, and is cut off above the left elbow and through the right upper arm. The Saint wears a chasuble and wide foliated orphrey which joins in a double foliated strip in front. Beneath is a pleated alb with a lace collar, and above this is the loose collar of the amice. The Saint's head is inclined slightly to his left, with parted lips and eyes upturned. The bust is moulded in one with its small rectangular base and is hollowed out at the back.
Dimensions
  • Height: 67.9cm
Object history
Purchased in London at the Arcade Gallery, for £1,200, in 1960. Previously in Rome as Algardi.
Subject depicted
Summary
This terracotta bust representing Saint Philip Neri is made by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, in Rome in ca. 1625.
It appears to have been based on the death mask of the Saint preserved at Santa Maria in Vallicella.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) was a prolifiic sculptor, architect, painter and draughtsman. He was celebrated for his astonishing ability to produce 'living' marble sculpture. Bernini produced a series of dramatic over-life-size sculptures for Cardinal Scipione Borghese, including Pluto and Proserpine, Apollo and Daphne and David. One of Bernini's greatest works is the Cornaro Chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome, which houses the famous Ecstacy of St Theresa. Bernini was patronised by a succession of popes and worked extensively at St Peter's Basilica, where he created the baldacchino (canopy), Cathedra Petri and two papal tombs, as well as designing St Peter's Square with its colonnades, and the great ceremonial staircase to the Vatican Palace.
Bibliographic references
  • Wittkower, R. Gian Lorenzo Bernini - The Sculptor of the Roman Baroque, Oxford, 1981, pp. 270, 1, cat. 82-4
  • Raggio, Olga. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albertt Museum. Art Bulletin. Vol. L, 1968, p. 104
  • Negri Arnoldi, Franceso, 'Scultura Italiana al Victoria and Albert Museum I&II. In: Commentari, anno XXI, June-July 1970. Fascicoli, p. 205
  • Pope-Hennessy, John. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Volume II: Text. Sixteenth to Twentieth Century. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964, pp. 607, 8, cat. no. 640
Collection
Accession number
A.26-1960

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
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