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A large golden circle with detail of a man in profile

A man’s profile is carved in the center of a large golden circle. The man is visible from the shoulders up, and he faces left. He wears a close-fitting cap on his head. The wrinkles and seams of the cap are visible. The man’s forehead is high and his nose is slightly hooked. He has curly hair that extends to his collar, a, mustache and a medium-length beard. He has a turned-down, voluminous collar. His shirt has a row of buttons at the center, a cord fastened with a round bead, and two columns of decorative, filigree-style detail.

Gallery Text

Born Girolamo Rospigliosi, Clement IX (1667–1669) was a committed patron of the arts during his short term as pope. He embellished the city of Rome through his engagement with the celebrated artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini, with whom he had collaborated before ascending to the papacy. Bernini created stage designs for performances of operas and plays written by the young Rospigliosi. The architectural and urban planning projects that Bernini carried out for Clement during his time as pope include the colonnade in Saint Peter’s Square and the renovation of the Ponte Sant’Angelo, the terracotta models for which are in the collection of the Fogg Museum.

Although this portrait was probably not executed by Bernini, it may have been modeled after one of his drawings. The image bears a strong resemblance to a papal medal by Girolamo Lucenti, created in 1669 to commemorate Clement’s expansion of the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, which the pontiff also entrusted to Bernini.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1955.74
People
Attributed to Girolamo Lucenti, Italian (Rome c. 1627 - 1698 Rome)
Previously attributed to an Italian Unidentified Artist
Previously attributed to Gioacchino Francesco Travani, Italian (active 1625 - 1675)
Title
Pope Clement IX (1667-1669)
Classification
Medals and Medallions
Work Type
medallion
Date
1667-1698
Culture
Italian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/228818

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2400, European Art, 17th century, Rome and Its Influence in the Seventeenth Century
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Gilt bronze in high relief
Dimensions
30.8 cm diam. x 2.3 cm depth (12 1/8 x 7/8 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • label: on back of medallion, printed and handwritten:: [printed in black ink:] MATHIAS KOMOR / WORKS OF ART / [handwritten in blue ink:] N458 / 17x / [printed in black ink:] NEW YORK

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Mathias Komor, New York, NY], sold; to Fogg Art Museum, 1955

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Alpheus Hyatt Purchasing Fund
Accession Year
1955
Object Number
1955.74
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
In a fitted morocco case.

Publication History

  • Leonard Opdycke, "A Portrait Medallion of Clement IX", Fogg Art Museum Acquisitions, 1959-1962 (Cambridge MA, 1963), pp. 13-19, pp. 13-19, repr. p. 15
  • John Spike, Baroque Portraiture in Italy: Works from North American Collections, exh. cat., John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art (Sarasota, Florida, 1984), appendix, p. 206, repr. in b/w as fig. 17
  • Maurizio Fagiolo dell'Arco, Berniniana: Novità sul regista del Barocco, Skira (Milan, 2002), pp. 65-66 and repr. p. XXXVI as fig. 39
  • Steven F. Ostrow, "The Papal Medals of Santa Maria Maggiore, 1605-1741", Le arti a dialogo: Medaglie e medaglisti tra Quattro e Settecento, Edizioni della Normale (Pisa, 2014), pp. 181-198, p. 190 and repr. in color p. 187 as fig. 13

Exhibition History

  • In Memoriam: Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 08/01/1980 - 10/15/1980
  • 32Q: 2400 French/Italian/Spanish, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

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