| Abstrakt: |
The article discusses Italian baroque artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini's 1621-1623 portrait bust of Pope Gregory XV Ludovisi. The author suggests that the portrait fits the Counter-Reformation tradition of appearing humble in portraits, established by Pope Paul III Farnese. The author discusses the clothing of the sculpture following Gregory XV's death and focuses on the perception of portraiture in the early modern period. The author suggests that portraits acquire a magical quality when standing in for an absent person, using artist Peter Paul Rubens' Medici cycle of paintings as an example, and discusses the idea of the transubstantiation of portraits in relation to the Catholic Eucharist. Other topics include animism in wax portraits, portraits of rulers, and portraits of the Medici family. |
