Bust of Pope Gregory XV

Bernini (known in France as Le Bernin) was an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect. An artist who was active in the first half of the seventeenth century, he was considered the greatest artist of his time. He worked for many years in Rome for several successive popes, including Pope Gregory XV. Indeed, it was for the latter that he sculpted a marble bust, of which this cast is a replica. However, recent studies seem to suggest that it was the first piece to be cast, and that it was chiselled by the sculptor for a prominent Roman collector. Hence, science has enabled this work to be classed as a ‘major work’ rather than a ‘sculpture of minor importance’.