Study after Bernini's Angel sculpture at Ponte Sant'Angelo (recto); Copy of Africa Group (verso)

This double-sided drawing attributed to Gian Lorenzo Bernini consists of a Study after Berninis own Angel sculpture at Ponte SantAngelo on the recto and a Copy of the Africa Group on the verso, both rendered in pen and brown ink over red chalk with brush and brown wash on the verso. The drawing documents Berninis practice of studying and copying his own sculptural works in drawing, a process that allowed him to analyze the three-dimensional forms of his completed sculptures from different viewpoints and to explore their compositional possibilities in two dimensions. The Ponte SantAngelo angels, which Bernini carved for the bridge leading to Castel SantAngelo in Rome, are among his most celebrated late works, their dynamic poses and flowing drapery epitomizing the Baroque synthesis of movement and spirituality. The Africa Group on the verso may refer to one of the personifications of continents that Bernini designed for the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona. The combination of red chalk underdrawing with pen and ink and wash on both sides of the sheet reveals Berninis layered working process, in which the initial red chalk sketch was refined and elaborated with ink lines and tonal washes. The pen and brown ink provides sharp contours and descriptive detail, while the brush and brown wash on the verso creates atmospheric shadows that suggest the volumes of the sculptural group in a way that approaches the three-dimensional presence of the sculptures themselves.

Drawings after Berninis own sculptures are invaluable documents for understanding how the Baroque masters two- and three-dimensional practices informed each other. They demonstrate that drawing was not merely preparatory to sculpture for Bernini but a continuous practice of analysis and revision that accompanied and followed the execution of his marble works.

A double-sided drawing by Bernini with a study of his own Ponte SantAngelo angel on the recto and a copy of the Africa Group on the verso, documenting the sculptors practice of analyzing his completed works in drawing using red chalk underdrawing with pen, ink, and wash.