He was the Michelangelo of his age, considered the greatest sculptor of the 17th century. And he knew it. No artist is more tightly intertwined with the urban fabric of Rome than Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
"Bernini is as important to Rome as the Coliseum," said Eric M. Lee, director of the Kimbell Art Museum. "Bernini and Rome are synonymous."
In 2007, just three days after C. D. Dickerson III joined the curatorial team at the Kimbell Art Museum, he traveled to the Harvard Art Museums for the unveiling of the Kimbell's newest acquisition, Bernini's Modello for the Fountain of the Moor. Standing before the world's largest and most important collection of Bernini terracottas, he thought, "Wouldn't it be phenomenal if we could do an exhibition on these?" It was in that moment that Dickerson began pushing the proverbial boulder uphill.
"This was a labor of love for C. D.," said Lee.
After receiving wide acclaim at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Bernini: Sculpting in Clay opens Feb. 3, 2013, at the Kimbell Art Museum.
Three men spent more than five years uncovering the intricacies of Bernini's creative processes. They are C. D. Dickerson III; Anthony Sigel, conservator of objects and sculpture at the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies at the Harvard Art Museums; and Ian Wardropper, director of the Frick Collection, New York.
Research took them behind the scenes at the Vatican and offered opportunities to explore the attic of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Could this team be considered art detectives? "Absolutely," said Dickerson.
Their findings are presented in the first-ever exhibition devoted to Bernini's preliminary drawings and brilliantly expressive preparatory clay models, which the artist usedto explore his ideas in 3-D.
This exhibition features 70 masterful works of art from institutions around the world, including 15 terracottas by Bernini from the Harvard Art Museums that have never before been lent.
"Our Moor is the star of this show," said Lee. This magnificent sculpture is the largest and most highly finished terracotta model by Bernini that is known today. "It's wonderful that this exhibition is an outgrowth of our permanent collection." This modello found favor with the Pamphilj family who awarded Bernini the commission to design a fountain to decorate the Piazza Navona in 1653.
Bernini played the role of director when faced with the impossibility of carving an enormous fountain, like Fountain of the Four Rivers, alone. He often created drawings and models to accurately communicate his ideas to the sculptors hired to assist him. Several of these models will be displayed at the Kimbell, including a lion convincingly poised to lap up water.
In the exhibition, visitors will learn how to read Bernini's "handwriting" –– the distinctive way he used his fingers and tools in clay and the marks they left behind –– through enlarged, detailed photographs of relevant features. During his research, conservator Anthony Sigel examined each terracotta with minute precision to understand the steps involved it its creation. This sometimes included fingerprint analysis.
A reading room is incorporated into the overall installation at the Kimbell to provide visitors with a space to learn more about the technical analysis of Bernini's work. A short film illuminates new discoveries made while conducting research for this important exhibition.
According to Dickerson, the richly illustrated catalogue that accompanies Bernini: Sculpting in Clay is a feast for scholars. "This catalogue will not be forgotten," said Lee. "It's the most important thing ever written on Bernini terracottas."
Toward the end of his 70-year career, Bernini renovated the famed Ponte Sant"Angelo, the most important bridge in Rome, at the order of Pope Clement IX. This bridge crosses the Tiber River at the pope's fortress, Castel Sant"Angelo, and connects the Vatican with the heart of Rome.
Bernini's design called for five marble angels, each holding an instrument of Christ's Passion, to adorn the sides of the bridge. The terracotta models he used for this project will flank the sides of the barrel-vaulted galleries of the Kimbell, allowing visitors to see the Ponte Sant"Angelo as Bernini originally envisioned it. Peer into the artist's mind. Look over his shoulder. Form a personal connection with the Eternal City.
