This bust of Pope Innocent X is a pair to one of the later Pope, Alexander VIII Ottoboni (1610-1691; elected Pope 1689) also by Guidi; both bronze busts are in the V&A's collection. Guidi's portrait of Innocent X is ultimately based on an earlier terracotta model of 1650 by Alessandro Algardi (1598-1654), who was Guidi's master; this terracotta is now in the Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia (formerly it was in the Palazzo Odescalchi) in Rome. Guidi's terracotta version of this prototype by Algardi is in the Palazzo Doria Pamphili in Rome. Algardi's terracotta model, as well as several bronzes he had cast from that model, differ from Guidi's portrayals of the Pope, above all in the folds of the drapery, and other details of the vestments. Guidi clearly adapted his master's portrait after both Algardi's and Innocent X's deaths. He was probably commissioned to make a posthumous bronze portrait of Innocent for the then reigning Pope, Alexander VIII, to be paired with a portrait of Alexander himself, in about 1690 (the bust of Alexander is documented as being cast in April of that year). Innocent X had made the future Alexander VIII (then Pietro Ottoboni) a cardinal in 1652, and this may explain why the latter wanted his bust to be paired with that of his papal predecessor. A pair of Guidi's bronzes of Innocent X and Alexander VIII was formerly in the Ottoboni Palace in Rome; that bust of Innocent X is now lost, and only the Alexander VIII survives there.
Guidi unusually cast and finished his own bronzes, and so this was probably produced under his supervision. The high quality of its surface can be seen in the details of the vestments, such as the low relief birds and fleurs-de-lis encircled with foliate designs on the stole, as well as in the subtle representation of the facial features. This sculpture is in the tradition of monumental bronze portraits of Popes, such as the famous examples by Bernini and Algardi. The sweeping vestments and baroque naturalism, while actually rooted in classical traditions of Roman imperial busts, give these portraits immense presence and power. In addition to the likenesses of Innocent X by Algardi, this pontiff had also been portrayed in marble busts by Bernini, and in a celebrated painting by Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) of about 1650.
Physical description
Bronze bust of Bust of Pope Innocent X (Giambattista Pamphili) (1574-1655; elected Pope 1644). He is wearing the mozetto (or capuccio) round his shoulders and a stole embroidered with alternate doves and fleur-de-lis in scrolls. On his head is a berrettino.
Place of Origin
Rome, Italy (cast)
Date
ca. 1690 (cast)
Artist/maker
Domenico Guidi, born 1625 - died 1701 (sculptor)
Materials and Techniques
Cast bronze
Dimensions
Height: 93 cm, Width: 85 cm, Depth: 40 cm
Object history note
This bust was purchased in London with a matching one showing Pop Alexander VIII. Such a pairing proves that they cannot have been cast before the latter's election in 1689 and that therefore the present image must be posthumous. Traditionally the present bust has been regarded as by Algardi on account of its close similarity in all respects to Algardi's portraits of the Pope, notably a terracotta example in Palazzo Odescalchi, Rome. However its relationship with the bust of Alexander VIII furnishes a clue as to its actual maker, Domenico Guidi, for an inventory of 1780 another bust of Alexander was listed as by Guidi, along with an Innocent X ascribed to Algardi. It is highly probable therefore that Guidi was responsible for making the bust that accompanied his own creation, for he was one of the few sculptors of the seventeenth century to cast and finish his own bronzes.
Using the standard model of his deceased master, Guidi strengthened the zig-zagging pattern of folds and altered some details in order to approximate his own style, as manifested in the bust of Alexander VIII that is was to pair.
Algardi's original bust of about 1650 provides a deeply sensitive interpretation of the man and the pontiff, his tired and irascible eyes reflecting the bitterness of his many disappointments, together with an awareness of his power and the dignity of his role. It was carved in rivalry with Bernini, the more fiery sculptor of the two, who produced two portrait busts in marble of the same pope, both now in Palazzo Doria-Pamphili, Rome. Algardi's calm and contemplative image is probably physiognomically the more accurate, as can be gauged by comparison with a third, masterly portrait of Innocent, this time in paint, by Diego Velázquez.
Descriptive line
Pope Innocent X by Domenico Guidi, after a model by Alessandro Algardi; bronze; Rome, Italy; cast ca.1690 (model ca.1654-66).
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1853. In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 3.
The South Kensington Museum - Etchings and works of Art in the Museum. London: 1881, pl. 48.
Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 160.
Pope-Hennessy, John assisted by Lightbrown, Ronald, Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Volume II: Text. Sixteenth to Twentieth Century. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964, p. 626
Montagu, Jennifer. Alessandro Algardi. New Haven and London, 1985, cat.156. D.I. p.431
Wittkower, Rudolf. Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The Sculptor of the Roman Baroque. Oxford, 1981, cat5. 51, p. 222
Exhibition History
Princely Treasures: European Masterpieces 1600-1800 from the V&A (Art Gallery of Western Australia 24/09/2011-09/01/2012)
Princely Treasures: European Masterpieces 1600-1800 from the V&A (National Museum of Korea (Seoul) 02/05/2011-28/08/2011)
Baroque 1620-1800: Style in the Age of Magnificence
Baroque 1620-1800: Style in the Age of Magnificence (Victoria and Albert Museum 01/04/2004-19/07/2009)
Effigies and Ecstasies. Roman Baroque Sculpture, A Design in the Age of Bernini.
Effigies and Ecstasies. Roman Baroque Sculpture, A Design in the Age of Bernini.
Effigies and Ecstasies. Roman Baroque Sculpture, A Design in the Age of Bernini. (National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh 01/06/1998-20/09/1998)
Production Note
by Domenico Guidi, after an original model by Alessandro Algardi.
Materials
Bronze
Techniques
Cast
Subjects depicted
Innocent X (Pope)
Collection code
SCP
