Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE A: ITALIAN ART
Preferred Title:
Tomb of Pope Alexander VII
Image View:
Overall view from front, left
Creator:
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Italian sculptor, 1598-1680)
Location:
repository: Saint Peter's (Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano) (Rome (Vatican City), Santa Sede (Holy See), Italy)
Location Note:
Piazza di San Pietro
GPS:
41.902222 12.453333
Date:
1671-1678 (creation)
Cultural Context:
Italian
Style Period:
Baroque
Work Type 1:
sculpture (visual work)
Work Type 2:
monument
Classification:
sculpture
Material:
gilt bronze; white and colored marbles; Sicilian jasper
Technique:
carving (processes); casting (process); gilding (technique)
Description:
The last of Bernini’s great projects to be completed was the tomb of Alexander VII. It was commissioned by the Pope before his death and was originally intended for S Maria Maggiore, but the site had been changed to the south transept of St Peter’s by 1670. In 1672 Bernini was paid for the design and a model of the whole tomb. Executed almost entirely by assistants and collaborators, though under Bernini’s close supervision, it consists of a marble effigy of the Pope kneeling at prayer, while below him are marble female figures representing Charity, Prudence, Justice and Truth. A bronze skeleton shaking an hourglass pushes up from under the great inlaid marble shroud that hangs over an entrance door that could not be moved and was thus cleverly incorporated into the design. (Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordart online.com/)
Collection:
Adjunct Module A: Italian Art
Identifier:
1A1-BG-MA-A02
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

Tomb of Pope Alexander VII