HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The ''Blessed Soul'' () is a bust by the Italian artist
Gian Lorenzo Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, ; ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 1598 – 28 November 1680) was an Italians, Italian sculptor and Italian architect, architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prom ...
. Executed around 1619, it is a pendant piece to the '' Damned Soul''. Their original location was sacristy of the church of San Giacomo degli Spagnuoli, but they were then moved in the late 19th century, and then to the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See in Piazza di Spagna The set may have been inspired by prints by Karel van Mallery, although they were initially categorized as nymph and satyr.


Critical reception

Despite being relatively unknown, the Blessed Soul was noted by some visitors to Rome. In particular, the painter
Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...
stated that the sculpture "has all the sweetness and perfect happiness expressed in her countenance that can be imagined." However, the Blessed Soul has not been considered one of Bernini's finest works in more recent times. Wittkower points to the "doughy hair of the Anima Beata", while Hibbard finds it uninspiring when compared to the Damned Soul, mentioning that 'virtuous appearances' do not translate too well into sculpture. Recent scholarship on the sculpture has queried whether its topic is not the Christian personifications of blessedness but a depiction of a nymph.


See also

*
List of works by Gian Lorenzo Bernini The following is a list of works of sculpture, architecture, and painting by the Italian Baroque artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The numbering follows Rudolph Wittkower's Catalogue, published in 1966 in ''Gian Lorenzo Bernini: The Sculptor of the Roma ...


Notes


References

* * * * * *


Further reading

* * * *


External links

* {{Gian Lorenzo Bernini 1620s sculptures Busts in Italy Marble sculptures in Italy Busts by Gian Lorenzo Bernini