Bishop or Pontiff

Object belonging

One's own

Category

Wood sculpture

City

Rome

Location

Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia

Specific location

Store

Inventory

s.n.

Material and technique

Sculpted and carved wood, gilding

Author

Roman School

Dating

17th century

Dimensions

25 x 22 x 15.5 cm.

Origin

Gorga Collection (1948)

Image copyright

SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Roma

Short description

This sculpture came from the collection of the opera singer Gennaro Evangelista (called Evan) Gorga, which was given to the Italian state in 1948 and was intended for the most part for the Palazzo Venezia museum. Identified perhaps by the number 369 in Gorga’s collection (even though a label bears the number 351), the work depicts the bust of a man with a long beard. It is in very poor condition (with heavy losses of colour and important parts missing, such as the upper and rear parts of the head) but some of its details (such as the infulae sculpted on the shoulder that would have been attached to the mitre or the tiara) mean the figure can be identified as a bishop or a pope, though it is difficult to provide a name.

Grazia Maria Fachechi 

Bibliography

Unpublished