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Bronze statue of woman in robes holding jar and cylindrical object

A woman in long, draped robes stands on a low round base reading “CONTESSA MATILDA.” She looks toward the right with a neutral expression. Her right arm is raised away from her body, and she holds a long, cylindrical object that is difficult to identify. In her left arm, she cradles an ornate vase with rows of trefoil patterns. She holds a large key in her left hand. The statue is a highly glossy, metallic dark brown. The back side of the woman is less detailed than the front and covered with lines of carving marks.

Gallery Text

In 1633, Pope Urban VIII entrusted Bernini with the design of the marble tomb of Countess Matilda of Tuscany (1046–1115). Matilda was originally buried in Mantua, but the pope arranged for her remains to be transferred to Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. This grand tomb celebrates the pope’s Tuscan origins as well as the countess’s political alliance with the papacy against the threatening forces of the Holy Roman Emperor.

This bronze statuette is the only record of a clay preparatory model (modello) by Bernini for the central figure. The bronze model’s high level of finish and near exactness to the marble statue suggest that it served either as a presentation piece for the pope or as the artist’s guide for carving the final figure. The unfinished state of the back, which records the tool marks with which Bernini worked the clay, indicates that from early on, the artist intended to place the tomb figure in a niche at Saint Peter’s.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1998.1
People
After a model by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Italian (Naples, Italy 1598 - 1680 Rome, Italy)
Previously attributed to Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian (Caprese, Italy 1475 - 1564 Rome, Italy)
Title
Countess Matilda of Tuscany
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Countess Matilda
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
c. 1633-1634 (model)
Culture
Italian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/213392

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
40 x 22.4 x 12.1 cm (15 3/4 x 8 13/16 x 4 3/4 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: on the front of the base: CONTESSA MATILDA

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Mrs. Henry Walters, Baltimore, MD, sold; [Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York , NY, lot 1306, April 30-May 3, 1941]. [N. Sakiel & Son Antiques, New York, NY, January 6, 1966, sold;] to Max Falk, New York, NY, sold and partial gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 1998.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Partial gift of Max Falk and partial purchase through the Director's Acquisition Fund
Accession Year
1998
Object Number
1998.1
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Rudolf Wittkower, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the sculptor of the Roman Baroque [2nd ed.], Phaidon Press (London, England, 1966), cat. no. 33, p. 202, fig. 40
  • Rudolf Wittkower, "Two Bronzes by Bernini in the National Gallery", Art Bulletin of Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria, Council of Trustees (Melbourne, Australia, 1970-1971), p. 13, fig. 20
  • W. Chandler Kirwin, Five College Roman Baroque Festival, exh. cat., Amherst College (Amherst, 1974), cat. no. 15
  • Ursula Schlegel, Die italienischen Bildwerke des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts in Stein, Holz, Ton, Wa, Mann (Berlin, Germany, 1978), pp. 165-6
  • Bernini in Vaticano, De Luca Editore (Rome, Italy, 1981), p. 111
  • Michael P. Mezzatesta, "Three Statuettes of the Countess Matilda of Tuscany", The Art of Gianlorenzo Bernini: Selected Sculpture, Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, TX, 1982), no. 2 and fig.20
  • Michael P. Mezzatesta, The Art of Gianlorenzo Bernini: Selected Sculpture, exh. cat., Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, TX, 1982), no. 2, fig. 20
  • Francesca Bewer, "Bronze Casts after Bozzetti and Modelli by Bernini", Harvard University Art Museums Bulletin, ed. Ivan Gaskell and Henry Lie, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, Spring 1999), VI, no. 3, 162-167, p. 162-67. p. 162 fig. 191, p. 163 fig. 192,
  • Bernard Black, "Canova's Lost Model for 'Hercules and Lichas' Preserved in Bronze", Apollo (September 2000), vol. 152, no. 463, pp. 13-21, p. 19. p. 21, fig. 13
  • C. D. Dickerson III, Tony Sigel, Ian Wardropper, Andrea Bacchi, Tomaso Montanari, and Stephen E. Ostrow, Bernini Sculpting in Clay, exh. cat. (New York, 2012)
  • Matilde di Canossa. Un bronzetto di Bernini degli anni Trenta, auct. cat., Carlo Orsi antichità (Milan, 2013), p. 20; p. 24; pp. 26-27; repr. as detail, p. 7; repr. p. 10; repr. p. 19; repr. p. 22

Exhibition History

  • Five Colleges Roman Baroque Festival, Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, 04/04/1974 - 04/28/1974; Mead Art Museum, Amherst, 04/07/1974 - 04/30/1974
  • Gian Lorenzo Bernini: Sketches in Clay, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 02/28/1998 - 06/30/2008
  • Bernini: Sculpting in Clay, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 10/03/2012 - 01/06/2013; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, 02/03/2013 - 05/05/2013
  • 32Q: 2210 West Arcade, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 10/03/2022

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu