Chapter II: A Collection of Sculptor’s Models by Bernini

The clay models by Bernini, descriptions of which follow, form one of the most interesting artistic records left us of the sculpture of the Renaissance. Drawings made by the painters of that period to serve as studies for their pictures are not uncommon, but the sketch-models made by the sculptors are rare.

This is because sculptors carved the marble without any previous models, as Michael Angelo frequently did, or else that the models, being cumbrous and of material that was easily destroyed, have, in the course of years, been got rid of either intentionally or by accident. It may seem strange to suggest that the clay of which the sculptors may have made their studies is more liable to destruction than the paper used by the painters, but it must be remembered that while nothing is more durable than baked clay, air-dried clay is extremely perishable. Wax was also used by the sculptors for their preliminary sketches, but this, owing to expense, could never have served for work of any great size or quantity; and even if less apt to complete disintegration than unbaked clay, it is very liable to injury.

What precisely was the origin of this collection of Bernini’s models we cannot tell; but it is our great good fortune that when they were made there was some one, perhaps one of Bernini’s pupils, who cared for them and saw to their being properly dried or baked so that they have preserved their pristine freshness. It is also extremely fortunate that their present owner realized their great beauty and extreme interest and added them to the artistic treasures stored in America, where they will serve in the ages to come to show students and sculptors a clear reflection of the mind of one of the world’s greatest artists.

In the Museum at Berlin are other models by Bernini, but there is, so far as I know, no other collection, either public or private, that approaches the Brandegee Collection in number, variety or excellence of these works. In America I know of but one other model purporting to be by Bernini. It is in the Morgan collection and represents Pope Urban VIII, but it does not show a single touch by the master; it is an imitation, copied from the statue in the Campidoglio at Rome. In the collection of the late Mme. Edouard Aynard, sold in Paris, December 1–4, 1913, were two terra-cotta models of angels (lot 307) “attribuées au chevalier Bernin, d’après les originaux du port Sant Ange, à Rome,” and one equestrian statuette in the same material (lot 308), said to be the “esquisse originale de la statue en marbre de Louis XIV, dans le parc de Versailles, par le chevalier Bernin.” The two angels are certainly not by Bernini; the portrait may be.

From the artistic point of view these models are of the highest importance, for they show with startling clearness the great fertility of invention which characterized Bernini and the vivid way in which he visualized the creations of his brain. There is not a trace of effort in them, there is not a sign of rubbing out or doing over, but each group or figure was obviously seen by him with the sharpness of a dream and reproduced by his skilful fingers in the fresh clay while the impulse and uplift of the vision was still on him.

The knowledge of the purely technical side of the art of sculpture which the models reveal is magnificent. The way, for instance, in which the various planes are treated in the oval relief of the Virgin and Child (Plate XXVI) is as subtle as, and very similar to, that of the reliefs on the ancient vases from Arezzo, while the relation of draped portions of the figures to the parts left nude, and the manner in which the body beneath gives life and meaning to the covering drapery, is as fine as any work by Pheidias.

But the most fascinating and interesting characteristic of these terra-cotta figures is that one sees in every least portion of them how Bernini’s fingers, trained by long years of hard practice, played over the wet clay like wavering flame and moulded the dead material to enduring forms of beauty. Once more the old mythology comes true, and Pygmalion, taking the rough material offered him by Mother Earth, fondled it, and, warming it with the fires of his brain, gave it back the life that lies asleep till the lover’s kiss wakes it once again.

DESCRIPTION OF THE MODELS

No. 1.—PLATE XI

Seated female figure in high relief, wearing helmet, and heavily
draped; the left cheek rests on the back of the raised left hand. Feet
missing.

For the tablet in memory of Carlo Barberini in Santa Maria d’Aracoeli,
Rome.

Width 10 inches.

No. 2.—PLATE XII

Figure of Longinus, in St. Peter’s. In the round, and gilded.

Height 20¾ inches.

No. 3.—PLATE XIII, _a_

Two _putti_, for the decoration of the piers in St. Peter’s. High
relief. The scale of measurement is scratched on the right edge. The
wings are broken from the lower figure.

Height 11⅛ inches.

No. 4.—PLATE XIII, _b_

Another two _putti_, also for St. Peter’s. The scale of measurement is
scratched on the left edge. The wings are broken from the upper
figure.

Height 11⅜ inches.

Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8.—PLATES XIV, XV

Four heavily draped bearded male Saints, for the _Ciborio_ in the
_Cappella del Sacramento_ in St. Peter’s.

The figures stand on thin, square plinths, one of which (Height 10⅜
inches; PLATE XIV, _a_) is unmarked, but on the other three are the
names _Bartolomeo_ (Height 10¼ inches; PLATE XV, _b_), _Tomaso_
(Height 10⅜ inches; PLATE XIV, _b_), and _Filippo_ (Height 10 inches;
PLATE XV, _a_).

The heads of all four are turned to the left, and the figures rest
their weight on the right leg. The left arm of the Bartolomeo is gone,
but was outstretched; the others all stretch out their right arm.

No. 9.—PLATE XVI

Bas-relief with half-figures of four men, and traces of architectural
background.

For the side wall of the _Cappella Borghese_ in Santa Maria della
Vittoria, Rome.

Width 17¼ inches.

No. 10.—PLATE XVII

Half figure of a Triton holding a draped woman on his shoulders.

For a fountain. The head and arms of the woman are gone.

Height 19½ inches.

No. 11.—PLATE XVIII

Front part of the head of a bearded man.

For the Saint Jerome in the _Cappella Chigi_ in the Duomo of Siena.

Height 13½ inches.

No. 12.—PLATE XIX, _a_

Model (head missing) for the kneeling Angel on the left of the
_Ciborio_ in the _Cappella del Sacramento_, St. Peter’s.

Height 11 inches.

No. 13.—PLATE XX, _a_

Another model for the same figure. Tip of right wing missing.

Height 11¼ inches.

No. 14.—PLATE XX, _b_

Angel on the right of the _Ciborio_ in the _Cappella del Sacramento_.

Other models for these two Angels are mentioned by Fraschetti (p.
394), who also suggests that this angel on the right is not by
Bernini, but “perhaps by Paolo Bernini, touched up by his father.”

I do not feel tempted to agree with this idea of Signor Fraschetti;
there is no doubt whatever that this model of the right-hand angel is
by Gian Lorenzo himself. Height 13⅛ inches.

No. 15.—PLATE XXI

Nude figure of an Angel holding the Crown of Thorns. The head and feet
are gone. The weight rests on the right leg.

Sant’ Andrea delle Fratte, Rome.

Height 13¼ inches.

No. 16.—PLATE XXII

Angel holding the Crown of Thorns.

This is the final model of the figure in Sant’ Andrea delle Fratte.

The action of the legs is the reverse of that in 15. Height 17½
inches.

No. 17.—PLATE XXIII, _a_

Model for the Angel holding the Scroll. The tips of the wings are
missing.

In Sant’ Andrea delle Fratte.

Height 11¾ inches.

No. 18.—PLATE XIX, _b_

Another model for the same figure as No. 17; lacks the right leg, the
head and most of the wings.

Height 11⅛ inches.

No. 19.—PLATE XXIV, _a_

Angel, perhaps for the ecstasy of Saint Theresa in _Santa Maria della
Vittoria_, Rome. Right hand missing.

Height 11½ inches.

No. 20.—PLATE XXIII, _b_

Angel, draped, right leg bare, turning to the left. Part of right wing
missing.

Height 11½ inches.

No. 21.—PLATE XXIV, _b_

Angel, draped, kneeling, head turned to right, right arm (hand
missing) raised, left arm with open hand stretching downwards and
outwards.

Height 11¾ inches.

No. 22.—PLATE XXV

Standing male figure, in high relief. Drapery hangs from the right
shoulder, leaving torso bare but covering the legs with heavy folds.
The left arm hangs down, and there was a palm branch in the now
missing hand. The right arm is bent up with the hand over the chin.
The head bends down and to the right. The figure rests its weight on
the left leg.

The right side of the plaque is curved; the left side is straight, and
on it is scratched a scale of measurements.

Height 16⅝ inches.

No. 23.—PLATE XXVI

Oval bas-relief of the Virgin seated and looking down to right while
holding the Child in her lap. High relief.

Very sketchy, but the most masterly of all these models.

Height 11 inches.

No. 24.—PLATE XXVII, _b_

Draped, standing female figure. She bends forward, turning to the left
with arms (right arm missing) raised to support a slab that rests
across her shoulders. The weight rests on the left leg. At her feet
suggestion of a cuirass.

Study for the base of some monument such as the obelisk in the Piazza
della Minerva. (Cf. Fraschetti, pp. 300–303.)

Height 8½ inches.

No. 25.—PLATE XXVII, _a_

Standing angel, heavily draped; the left knee is bent sharply
backwards. The right arm is bent across the breast, the left arm
(forearm missing) bent across the body lower down. The wings are
missing.

Height 8⅝ inches.

No. 26

The Magdalen kneeling, and grasping the foot of the Cross.

This figure is not by Bernini, and shows clearly the difference
between the work of a master and that of an imitator.

Height 10 inches.

No. 27

Study of a hand.

Length 8 inches.