Büste des Francesco I. d’Este

Künstler
Büste des Francesco I. d’Este
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1614–1679), Büste des Francesco I. d’Este, Modena, Galleria Estense, Saal 1, 1651, Bild 1/9
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1614–1679), Büste des Francesco I. d’Este, Modena, Galleria Estense, Saal 1, 1651, Bild 1/9
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1614–1679), Büste des Francesco I. d’Este, Modena, Galleria Estense, Saal 1, 1651, Bild 2/9
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1614–1679), Büste des Francesco I. d’Este, Modena, Galleria Estense, Saal 1, 1651, Bild 3/9
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1614–1679), Büste des Francesco I. d’Este, Modena, Galleria Estense, Saal 1, 1651, Bild 4/9
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1614–1679), Büste des Francesco I. d’Este, Modena, Galleria Estense, Saal 1, 1651, Bild 5/9
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1614–1679), Büste des Francesco I. d’Este, Modena, Galleria Estense, Saal 1, 1651, Bild 6/9
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1614–1679), Büste des Francesco I. d’Este, Modena, Galleria Estense, Saal 1, 1651, Bild 7/9
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1614–1679), Büste des Francesco I. d’Este, Modena, Galleria Estense, Saal 1, 1651, Bild 8/9
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1614–1679), Büste des Francesco I. d’Este, Modena, Galleria Estense, Saal 1, 1651, Bild 9/9

The seventeenth century ushered in a lengthy period when the arts were revived by a unified, dramatic and grandiose style. Deriving from a classical root, this style became the living language of the Catholic church and absolute monarchies. Rome was the epicentre of this phenomenon, which came to be known as the Baroque, and which would spread from there through Europe. Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) played a leading role in this renewal. A sculptor and architect to the popes and other prestigious international patrons, he was also a painter and man of the theatre. Bernini embodied the ideal of the modern artist: well-connected, powerful and successful. In his hands, the capital of Christianity was transformed into a new universal reference point, symbolized by the colonnade in Saint Peter's Square, which seems to open up to embrace the world. But the most intimate and direct expression of Bernini's genius were his sculptures, which renewed an art that had remained in the background following Michelangelo's solitary achievements. With his portrait busts in particular, Bernini took this classical genre par excellence to new expressive heights, manipulating marble into the most audacious enquiries into the human condition.

In this celebrated marble sculpture, the bust of Franceso I asserts itself like a manifesto of absolute power in the Baroque age. The Duke of Modena was a charismatic person and a great lover of art, but had low political stature in the balance of power of his day, which was dominated by other figures. Nonetheless, this portrait has consigned him to history as an embodiment of the ideal Christian monarch: immobile and with his gaze fixed on the horizon, he is wrapped in his cloak, which seems to come to life and raise him up, like a hero in apotheosis.

The marble bust, which has a vertiginous quality, was sculpted without Bernini even seeing his sitter in the flesh. He only had portraits at his disposition for what he himself called an 'almost impossible' task. The sculpture enjoyed immediate and universal success, and was greatly admired in Rome. This prompted Francesco I to offer to the artist an exorbitant sum of money for it: the same amount that Bernini received from the Pope at the same time for another celebrated masterpiece, his Fountain of the Four Rivers in Rome's Piazza Navona.

Modena, Galleria Estense, Saal 1
Modena, Galleria Estense, Saal 1, Bild 1/4
Modena, Galleria Estense, Saal 1, Bild 1/4
Modena, Galleria Estense, Saal 1, Bild 2/4
Modena, Galleria Estense, Saal 1, Bild 3/4
Modena, Galleria Estense, Saal 1, Bild 4/4

In Vorbereitung: Paris, Musée d’Orsay; Paris, Musée des Arts décoratifs; L'Aquila, Museo Nazionale d'Abruzzo; Ascoli Piceno, Pinacoteca civica

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