Bust of Pope Pius VI

Object belonging

One's own

Category

Terracotta sculpture

City

Rome

Location

Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia

Specific location

Room 26

Inventory

PV 13958

Material and technique

Terracotta/ patina

Author

Vincenzo Pacetti (1746-1820)

Dating

c. 1775-1780

Dimensions

43x34x23 cm.

Origin

Gorga Collection (1948)

Image copyright

SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Roma

Short description

Giovan Angelo Braschi became Pope Pius VI on 15 Febraury 1775 and his long reign, which ended in 1799, marked the heightening of the crisis that threatened the very existence of the Papal State. In 1797 French troops arrived in Rome and overthrew the Pope, proclaiming the birth of the short-lived Roman Republic. Despite the evident political difficulties, Pius VI was a great patron of the arts and a dedicated protector of the extraordinary heritage of the city. Excavation work, which was still flourishing in the final decades of the century, meant sculptural fragments had to be assembled for exhibits and this gave rise to the practice of sculptors specialized in the restoration and imitation of classical works. Alongside Bartolomeo Cavaceppi, the forefather of this profession, Vincenzo Pacetti was one of the most skilled craftsmen in the field and also expressed his own sculptural sensibilities with original creations. His gifts as a portraitist were highly valued, which he displayed in effigies of Pietro Bracci, Marco Benefial, and Anton Raphael Mengs, for the monument in the church of Santi Michele e Magno, and naturally of the reigning Pope. A fine terracotta depicting the face of Pius VI is held at Palazzo Venezia: the head is arranged on a short bust, cut off at the shoulders by the stoles on the mozzetta on which they are modelled, in very light relief, with two scrolls without heraldic symbols. The pontiff’s attention seems to be grabbed by the unexpected arrival of an interlocutor, and his half-open mouth seems to suggest his imminent reply; the curiosity and the sharpness of his look do not hide, though, the great human fragility of the individual. Judging by the expression and the slightly burdened look, Pacetti might have modelled the portrait not long after the election of Braschi, so between around 1775 and 1780, and the features suit a man of around 65-70 years of age.

Cristiano Giometti 

Bibliography