National Bargello Museum in Florence (April – July 2009)
J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles ( November 2008 - March 2009)
National Gallery in Canadá, Ottawa (August 2008 - Marzo 2009)
After the exhibition Bernini and the Birth of Baroque Portrait Sculpture, organized by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the National Gallery of Ottawa (August 5, 2008 - March 8, 2009), Florence also paid tribute to the artist and his exceptional portraiture skills. With the bust of Costanza Bonarelli, the Museo Nazionale del Bargello held the most moving testimony of the transformation Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) brought to sculptural portraiture.
Compared to the exhibitions in Los Angeles and Ottawa, this new exhibition had its own strong identity, beginning with the decision to focus on the portraits Bernini created from a very young age. The exhibition was divided into two sections: Bernini the Portraitist: The Beginning and Rise; The ‘Speaking Portraits’ (1630–1640).
In a direct and fascinating comparison with the sculpted busts, some works by the leading painters of the time, active in Rome, were displayed (Rubens, Carracci, Van Dyck, Velázquez, Vouet, Valentin de Boulogne, Pietro da Cortona). Bernini appeared to relate to and, at times, be inspired by them. Two paintings (Portrait of Urban VIII and the Self-Portrait from the Uffizi) also offered insight into Bernini as a portraitist in painting.
The Florence exhibition thus highlighted the most significant phase of the artist’s portrait production, during which his mastery emerged, represented not only by Costanza Bonarelli, but also by the Portraits of Urban VIII, Scipione Borghese, and other figures from the papal circle.
During this same period, the figure of Giuliano Finelli, Bernini’s pupil and assistant, also emerged. The exhibition showcased some of his most superb portraits, such as the Bust of Maria Barberini Duglioli from the Louvre, the Portrait of Francesco Bracciolini from the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the Portrait of Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger from Casa Buonarroti (Florence).