Borghese Gallery: Bits of Sculpture

Gia and I spent a few days in Rome recently. One of the excursions we took was a visit to the Borghese Gallery. Our guide was keen to show us some of the exquisite sculptures of Bernini—in his view, a much superior sculptor than Michelangelo. As is usually the case in these situations, it’s hard to get a view with too many people (like us), signs and barriers and often not very good lighting. I contented myself with taking some “detail shots”.

Unfortunately, I didn’t note the name or artist for this piece, and I cannot track it down on the web.

Created circa 1618-19. Housed in the Galleria Borghese in Rome, the sculpture depicts a scene from the Aeneid, where the hero Aeneas leads his family from burning Troy.

Executed between 1646 and 1652, Bernini intended to show Truth allegorically as a naked young woman being unveiled by a figure of Time above her, but the figure of Time was never executed. Bernini still expressed a wish to add the figure as late as 1665.

Executed between 1621 and 1622. Bernini was only 23 years old at its completion. It depicts the Abduction of Proserpina, where Proserpina is seized and taken to the underworld by the god Pluto.

Executed between 1622 and 1625, the work depicts the climax of the story of Daphne and Phoebus in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

David is a life-size marble sculpture, one of many commissions to decorate the villa of Bernini’s patron Cardinal Scipione Borghese. It was completed in the course of seven months from 1623 to 1624.

Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix (or Venus Victorious). Nude portraits were unusual, subjects of high rank usually having strategically placed drapery. It is a matter of debate as to whether she actually posed naked for the sculpture, since only the head is a realistic (if slightly idealised) portrait, whilst the nude torso is a neo-classically idealised female form. When asked how she could pose for the sculptor wearing so little, she reputedly replied that there was a stove in the studio that kept her warm, though this may be apocryphal or a quip deliberately designed by her to stir up scandal.

Links

Truth Unveiled by Time
The Rape of Proserpina
Apollo and Daphne
David
Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix
Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius

Photographic Notes

I decided to convert the photos to B&W as this gives a more consistent look and feel to the selection. As I am trialling Topaz Labs’ photo processing suite, I used their modules for B&W conversion and noise reduction. I was quite impressed with the results for noise reduction, just using some of the standard presets.