Gian Lorenzo Bernini is perhaps the foremost sculptor of his time, and his monumental bronze and marble statues are the very epitome of early Baroque art. Before he and his workshop could create large statues from expensive materials such as marble, Bernini first created smaller clay models to determine how the final version of his works should look.
The ongoing exhibition "Sketches in Clay" at Harvard's Fogg Art Museum contains the largest collection of these terra cottas. In the clay models, viewers can get a sense of Bernini's creative processes through multiple clay versions of a single sculpture, and get a more intimate sense of how he and the members of his workshop worked the clay into the magnificent final versions.
Within the Fogg exhibition, there has been a recent addition among the other "Sketches in Clay," a focused exhibition on one of Bernini's most phenomenal extant clay models: a male nude struggling with a large fish, created for a fountain in the Piazza Navona in Rome circa 1653.
The exhibition, titled "Bernini's Moor: A Monumental Model for a Roman Fountain," displays the model alongside extensive information about the sculpture's history and recent conservation efforts. Just as the terra cotta models give a more intimate, closer look at the artist's talent and creative process, the knowledge revealed through conservation allows visitors to see the model and its creator in a new light.
The sculpture itself, even without any accompanying information, is worth a visit to the Fogg. The work is larger and more finished than the others in the ongoing exhibition, as Bernini probably used it to show Pope Innocent X, the commissioner, his idea for the fountain.
The figure, a muscular Triton, a mythological Greek creature of the sea, stands with his legs around a fish, both figures atop a seashell. Bernini's affinity for sculpture from antiquity, especially that from the Hellenistic period, is evident in the Triton's emotional expression, the sense of wind blowing through his hair and the enormous sense of movement from his stance.
His muscles are formed so realistically that they seem to ripple as he strains his body. This tension is especially visible in the Triton's feet as they grip the seashell where he stands. As a matter of fact, the dynamic sculpting of the figure is so convincing that even though both arms of the sculpture have been lost, one can still understand what is occurring in the scene and immediately realize that the Triton is wrestling with the fish.
The precise details and brilliant craftsmanship of the model are also remarkable, even among the others in "Sketches in Clay." The different textures of the fish scales, the Triton's hair and skin, the rocks and the other surfaces in the piece are expertly rendered. The deep crevices in the Triton's hair and other parts of the sculpture cause dark shadows and tremendous contrast that add to the energy and power of the work.
This one sculpture is turned into a complete exhibition by means of conservator Tony Sigel's wall texts describing how the Moor was created and changed over the years, as manifested in recent restoration and preservation at the Harvard Art Museums' Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies. Recent conservation efforts have revealed that the terra cotta figure was restored six times in the past, sometimes causing more harm than good.
Using photography, x-rays, chemical analysis and other technologies, the conservators were able to determine what specifically was changed and when it happened. In restoring and recreating missing or broken parts, conservators built tools based on the marks left in the clay, attempting to recreate the same shaping instruments Bernini himself had originally used.
The conservators can even give insight on how Bernini went about creating this piece. For example, he created the arms and legs separately and later attached them, but the head and torso were formed from one piece of clay. This gives viewers a glimpse into what occurred at Bernini's studio hundreds of years ago.
The terra cotta Moor sculpture is much more refined than the rougher clay sketches surrounding it at the Fogg. It retains the sense of intimacy offered by its clay neighbors, however, by allowing for close focus and extensive research on Bernini's workshop, presented to visitors in Sigel's wall text.
Like the "Sketches in Clay," the addition of the Moor offers insight into Bernini's creative process and ability, but the new information revealed through conservation goes beyond that and offers even more of a window into his technique and craftsmanship.
"Bernini's Moor: A Monumental Model for a Roman Fountain," when viewed in the context of "Sketches in Clay," provides a comprehensive display of exactly how one of the greatest sculptors in Western art, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, created his masterpieces.
