Monsignor Francesco Barberini (c.1623)

Bernini, Gian Lorenzo (1598-1680)

Monsignor Francesco Barberini
c.1623
Marble, 80.01 x 65.88 x 25.72 cm
National Gallery of ArtWashington

This free-standing, white marble sculpture shows the head, shoulders, and upper chest of a balding, bearded man. In this photograph, his body faces us and he looks straight ahead. Bushy eyebrows arch low over deeply set eyes, and his forehead hollows inward at his temples. He has high cheekbones and the skin of his cheeks draws slightly in. His thin lips are set in a straight line within a full beard. His high-necked robe falls slightly open over his chest and is cut also away over the shoulders to show the crinkled fabric of the garment beneath. The bottom edge of the sculpture curves upward in a very shallow U across the bottom, and is supported by a square pedestal foot decorated with scroll designs. The background behind the bust lightens from charcoal gray along the top edge to pale gray across the bottom, and the sculpture casts a shadow behind its base. (NGA)

See also:

Barberini, Francesco (1528-1600) | Barberini, Maffeo (1568-1644), Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644)