Blessed Soul (Bernini)

The Blessed Soul (Italian: Anima Beata) is a bust by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Executed around 1619, it is a pendant piece to the Damned Soul.[1][2] 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.[3] The set may have been inspired by prints by Karel van Mallery, although they were initially categorized as nymph and satyr.

Blessed Soul
Latin: Anima Beata
ArtistGian Lorenzo Bernini
Year1619 (1619)
Catalogue7
TypeSculpture
MediumMarble
DimensionsLife-size
LocationRome

Critical Reception

Despite being relatively unknown, the Blessed Soul was noted by some visitors to Rome. In particular, the painter Joshua Reynolds stated that the sculpture "has all the sweetness and perfect happiness expressed in her countenance that can be imagined." [4] 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",[5] while Hibbard finds it uninspiring when compared to the Damned Soul, mentioning that 'virtuous appearances' do not translate too well to sculpture.[6]

Recent scholarship on the sculpture has queried whether its topic is not the Christian personifications of blessedness but a depiction of a nymph.[7]

References
Notes
  1. "Bernini: He Had the Touch". The New York Review of Books. 2015-06-04.
  2. "Bernini Artworks & Famous Sculptures". The Art Story.
  3. Wittkower 1955, p. 233.
  4. Reynolds 1659, p. 7.
  5. Wittkower 1955, p. 233.
  6. Hibbard 1990, p. 33.
  7. Cueto, David García (2015-01-01). "On the original meanings of Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Anima beata and Anima dannata: Nymph and Satyr?". Sculpture Journal. 24 (1): 37–53. doi:10.3828/sj.2015.24.1.4. ISSN 1366-2724.
Bibliography
  • Avery, Charles (1997). Bernini: Genius of the Baroque. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 9780500286333.
  • Baldinucci, Filippo (2006) [1682]. The Life of Bernini. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 9780271730769.
  • Bernini, Domenico (2011) [1713]. The Life of Giano Lorenzo Bernini. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 9780271037486.
  • Hibbard, Howard (1990). Bernini. London: Penguin. ISBN 9780140135985.
  • Mormando, Franco (2011). Bernini: His Life and His Rome. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226538525.
  • Reynolds, Joshua (1659). Sir Joshua Reynolds' Notes and Observations on Pictures. Soho: John RSussell Smith.
  • Wittkower, Rudolf (1955). Gian Lorenzo Bernini: The Sculptor of the Roman Baroque. London: Phaidon Press. ISBN 9780801414305.
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