The collection of sculpture at the Scottish National Gallery is not extensive but it does comprise some stunning examples by major masters such as this bust by Gianlorenzo Bernini. It is one of only two portrait busts by Bernini in British collections and it counts among the most important acquisitions made by the National Galleries in recent decades.

As architect, sculptor, painter and playwright, Bernini was the dominant artistic genius in seventeenth-century Rome, serving no fewer than eight popes over the course of his long career and encapsulating the Baroque qualities of drama, movement and emotion across the full range of his work. At first glance this posthumous portrait of the Archbishop of Pisa might seem like a quiet and conventional piece of portrait sculpture, yet on closer inspection it displays Bernini’s astonishing technical skill and his uncanny ability to extract a living, breath­ing likeness from hard, white marble.

The sitter, Carlo Antonio dal Pozzo, was a distinguished prelate who eventually became one of the most powerful men in Tuscany. He was an erudite and cultivated man but perhaps his greatest contribution to the arts was his role as the supporter of his first cousin’s eldest son, Cassiano dal Pozzo, who is now recognised as one of the most important cultural figures of the age. Cassiano was a scholar, antiquarian and a key patron for numerous artists, most notably Poussin. It seems likely that Cassiano invited his acquaintance Bernini to make this posthumous bust of his mentor as a fond tribute and as an acknowledgement of the Archbishop’s generous funding of his education.

It was not unusual for sculptors to make posthumous busts, and Bernini probably had access to the Archbishop’s death mask as well as several painted portraits as a guide to creating the likeness. The prelate was apparently a fat yet energetic man, and according to contemporary accounts ‘he was extremely knowledgeable about drinking and eating’. In Bernini’s portrait, however, he has a handsome face with a firm bone structure and, as one author has noted, ‘a look of keen intelligence in the face, and a suspicion of humour in and around the eyes’. The rendering of his stubbly, close-cropped beard, the taut skin across the sharp nose and the soft furrows of flesh across the broad forehead are masterly demonstrations of the sculptor’s virtuoso technique. At a time when painters such as Caravaggio were achieving a new degree of naturalism in their art, Bernini rose to the challenge of finding colour and life from the unpromising raw material of cold, monochromatic stone.

This text was originally published in 100 Masterpieces: National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2015.