Borghese Gallery wants to buy Bernini masterpiece: fundraiser launched

A fundraiser throughArt Bonus has been launched by the Borghese Gallery to purchase the bronze bust of Urban VIII Barberini, a masterpiece by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

The museum is inviting donors to support the museum to “enrich the collection of the Galleria Borghese with a masterpiece by one of its most identifiable artists.”

The sculpture was executed in 1658 for Cardinal Antonio Barberini, depicts Urban VIII, a figure closely linked to the affairs of Scipione Borghese’s collection, and is currently owned by the cardinal’s descendants.

It is a central work in Bernini’s production and within the scope of his portraiture. The posthumous portrait was commissioned from the artist in 1656 and completed two years later; it remained with the family at all times until it came to its present ownership through inheritance. Urban VIII is shown here wearing a mozzetta and camauro and, in the center of the base, displays a heraldic bee. Of extraordinary quality, the bronze bust maintains the expressive power of the terracotta model.

Acquiring the sculpture would mean for the Borghese Gallery “an exceptional circumstance, both because of the importance of the artist who is its author and because of the character represented in it, and would fill the gap of not possessing a portrait of Barberini along with those of the other illustrious protagonists of the Borghese court.”

The work will be given a place of utmost prominence in the collection and will have next to it the list of donors who allowed the purchase to be mentioned.

The total cost of the work is 8 million euros.

Borghese Gallery wants to buy Bernini masterpiece: fundraiser launched

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