National Gallery of Art, Objects Conservation lab, December 2021. Louis XIV, after Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Samuel H. Kress Collection 1943.4.87

The Technical Study of Bernini’s Bronzes:

Art History, Conservation, and Material Science

Project Summary

The Technical Study of Bernini’s Bronzes is a SSHRC-funded multi-disciplinary project conducted by an international team of researchers in art history, museum conservation, material and computer science. The scope of the project is the comprehensive study of bronze sculptures cast after the designs of Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), during the sculptor’s lifetime or soon after.

The Works

Our comprehensive approach to the study of bronzes cast after Bernini's designs in his lifetime includes circa 100 extant works including portrait busts, medallions, reliefs, lamps, statuettes and life-sized statues and complex multi-component bronze sculptural projects in the Basilica of St. Peter’s and in other locations.

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Technical Studies

The team is conducting a comprehensive array of technical studies alongside historical and archival research on Bernini's bronzes.

Trips

The travel team (Bassett, Fontolan, Ellis, Levy, Rizzuto,) is blogging site visits for technical studies (2021-present). Follow the progress of the project here.

Foundational Ideas

The project is governed by two foundational ideas:

1. the layered notion of authorship of bronzes guided by the expertise of the founders and made evident by the traces of work by many unnamed, multifunctional workers

2. the centrality of multiples in Baroque Rome