GIAN LORENZO BERNINI
7 Portrait of a Young Man
Red and white chalk; H: 33.2 cm (i3T/6 in.); W: 21.8 cm
( 8 5/8 in.)
82.GB.I37
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: (Recto) at top right corner,
inscribed LC in red chalk; at bottom left corner, in-
scribed L. Caracce in black ink; at bottom right corner,
inscribed 938 in black and brown ink; (verso) inscribed
Lud. Car. in red chalk.
PROVENANCE: Private collection, Paris.
EXHIBITIONS: Dessins fran^ais et italiens du XVIe et du
XVIIe siecle dans les collections privees fran^aises, Galerie
Claude Aubry, Paris, December 1971, no. 13. Baroque
Portraiture in Italy: Works from North American Collections,
John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, De-
cember 1984-February 1985, no. 9 (catalogue by J.
Spike).
BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. S. Harris, Selected Drawings of Gian
Lorenzo Bernini (New York, 1977), p. 16.
THIS STUDY OF AN UNIDENTIFIED MAN IS UNUSUAL
for Bernini in a number of respects, as has been noted by
Harris (1977, p. xiv). The free, spontaneous characteri-
zation of the subject, with rather loose strokes in some
areas, contrasts with the more polished manner em-
ployed in the majority of his portrait drawings. An old
inscription on the recto suggests Ludovico Carracci as
the draughtsman. In fact the drawing reflects a generic
debt to his cousin, Annibale, in its direct, naturalistic vi-
sion. As Harris has pointed out (1977, p. xiv), the use of
red chalk without black is rare for Bernini. Harris has
dated the drawing to circa 1625-1630, thus making it
contemporary with the portrait of a young man in the
National Gallery, Washington, D.C. (inv. 6-25,774;
Harris 1977 , no. 9, fig. 9), which was made in a more
finished manner than the Museum's study.32 ITALIAN SCHOOL • BERNINI