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Lot Essay
With his mouth agape, eyes wide, and curls of hair animated like flames licking around his brow, the present bust encapsulates all the drama and dynamism quintessential of Bernini’s compositions. It was originally imagined when the artist was just 20, on the cusp of a career that would see him become the most famous sculptor of his generation. The Anima Dannata (Damned Soul) was created alongside another altogether different bust showing an Anima Beata (Blessed Soul) represented by a young woman in a state of peace, eyes raised heavenward. Both works are today housed at the Palazzo di Spagna in Rome. The longstanding consensus on the iconographic meaning of the two busts, as their names suggest, is that they should be understood in a Christian context, representing the fate of two souls in the afterlife; one in Heaven and the other in Hell. Although a more recent discovery of a document referring to the pair as a nymph and a satyr has brought forth a possible mythological interpretation (see Bacchi and Coliva, loc. cit.). Regardless of who Bernini intended to represent, it is evident that the busts are meant as a deliberate contrast of two psychological states of being. Bernini’s relish in the imagination of the Damned is clear - creating a visceral, theatrical hyperbole of a man tormented. Indeed, Rudolf Wittkower suggested that the Anima Dannata could possibly have been ‘worked before the mirror’ and thus a self-portrait (Wittkower, op cit. p.177).
The present lot, attributed to the English sculptor Joseph Wilton, is a faithful and highly accomplished rendering after Bernini’s original. Born in London to a wealthy family, Wilton became one of the most sought after sculptors of his time, working for the most important collectors of the day. He left England in his late teens to train on the Continent, moving to Laurent Delvaux’s workshop in Belgium and later to that of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle in Paris. In 1747 Wilton journeyed to Italy where he encountered first-hand the sculptural masterpieces of the Renaissance and Baroque eras and of classical antiquity. These works had a profound influence on him and he began to garner commercial success creating copies in marble and plaster for aristocrats on the Grand Tour. After making a name for himself overseas for both his copies and original compositions, Wilton returned to his native England where his success and renown continued to grow. He was appointed ‘Sculptor in Ordinary’ to King George III in 1761 and was a founding member of the Royal Academy in 1768.
The present bust has been convincingly attributed to Wilton based on a number of factors. Firstly, its exceptional quality indicates creation by an artist in possession of notable technical ability and compares with that exhibited in Wilton’s extant marble busts. Secondly, Wilton was familiar with Bernini’s oeuvre; his surviving sketchbooks include drawings after the Baroque master’s monuments and he is documented as having supplied the Duke of Richmond with two plasters after elements of Bernini’s monument to Alexander VII (Kenworthy-Browne, op. cit., p. 47). In addition, the shape of the socle in the present lot also points to Wilton’s authorship. Its rectangular waisted form is highly unusual but can be found in several works by Wilton, the closest of which is his portrait of Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (British Museum, London, inv. no. 1777, 0620.1). A final element supporting an attribution to Wilton is that the treatment of the reverse, namely the patterns left by the tooling, is comparable to the bust of Philip Stanhope and other known works including his portrait of Dr. Antonio Cocchi (V&A, London, inv. no. A.9-1966) and ‘Bust of a Man (After the Antique)’ (Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 87.SA.110).
This arresting and enigmatic bust is a testament to Wilton’s artistic skill and ability to recreate the spirit of Bernini’s singular genius. The work also bears witness to the enduring international appeal of Bernini, whose unparalleled ability to create tension and drama in marble saw his compositions remain highly sought after in the centuries following his death.
The present lot, attributed to the English sculptor Joseph Wilton, is a faithful and highly accomplished rendering after Bernini’s original. Born in London to a wealthy family, Wilton became one of the most sought after sculptors of his time, working for the most important collectors of the day. He left England in his late teens to train on the Continent, moving to Laurent Delvaux’s workshop in Belgium and later to that of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle in Paris. In 1747 Wilton journeyed to Italy where he encountered first-hand the sculptural masterpieces of the Renaissance and Baroque eras and of classical antiquity. These works had a profound influence on him and he began to garner commercial success creating copies in marble and plaster for aristocrats on the Grand Tour. After making a name for himself overseas for both his copies and original compositions, Wilton returned to his native England where his success and renown continued to grow. He was appointed ‘Sculptor in Ordinary’ to King George III in 1761 and was a founding member of the Royal Academy in 1768.
The present bust has been convincingly attributed to Wilton based on a number of factors. Firstly, its exceptional quality indicates creation by an artist in possession of notable technical ability and compares with that exhibited in Wilton’s extant marble busts. Secondly, Wilton was familiar with Bernini’s oeuvre; his surviving sketchbooks include drawings after the Baroque master’s monuments and he is documented as having supplied the Duke of Richmond with two plasters after elements of Bernini’s monument to Alexander VII (Kenworthy-Browne, op. cit., p. 47). In addition, the shape of the socle in the present lot also points to Wilton’s authorship. Its rectangular waisted form is highly unusual but can be found in several works by Wilton, the closest of which is his portrait of Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (British Museum, London, inv. no. 1777, 0620.1). A final element supporting an attribution to Wilton is that the treatment of the reverse, namely the patterns left by the tooling, is comparable to the bust of Philip Stanhope and other known works including his portrait of Dr. Antonio Cocchi (V&A, London, inv. no. A.9-1966) and ‘Bust of a Man (After the Antique)’ (Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 87.SA.110).
This arresting and enigmatic bust is a testament to Wilton’s artistic skill and ability to recreate the spirit of Bernini’s singular genius. The work also bears witness to the enduring international appeal of Bernini, whose unparalleled ability to create tension and drama in marble saw his compositions remain highly sought after in the centuries following his death.