This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason:
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or fewer.
You must also include a United States public domain tag to indicate why this work is in the public domain in the United States.
Note that a few countries have copyright terms longer than 70 years: Mexico has 100 years, Jamaica has 95 years, Colombia has 80 years, and Guatemala and Samoa have 75 years. This image may not be in the public domain in these countries, which moreover do not implement the rule of the shorter term. Honduras has a general copyright term of 75 years, but it does implement the rule of the shorter term. Copyright may extend on works created by French who died for France in World War II (more information), Russians who served in the Eastern Front of World War II (known as the Great Patriotic War in Russia) and posthumously rehabilitated victims of Soviet repressions (more information).
https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/PDMCreative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0falsefalse
The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain". This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain in the United States. In other jurisdictions, re-use of this content may be restricted; see Reuse of PD-Art photographs for details.
This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it.
If the file has been modified from its original state, some details may not fully reflect the modified file.
JPEG file comment
ALGARDI, Alessandro
(b. 1598, Bologna, d. 1654, Roma)
Bust of Cardinal Giovanni Garzia Mellini
1637-38
Marble, life-size
Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome
Algardi's portrait busts are much less flamboyant or self-consciously artistic in character than those of Bernini. Where Bernini sought movement and engagement in his portraits, Algardi's approach was more understated, and more concerned with evoking presence through minute attention to physiognomy. His busts seem more aloof because they functioned generally as part of funerary monuments where meditation and piety were the primary requirements.
The hallmarks of his approach to portraiture were established by the mid-1630s, when he created the bust of the papal advocate, Monsignor Antonio Cerri, and the posthumous portrait of Cardinal Giovanni Garzia Mellini.
The bust of Mellini stands in his chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo and shows the Cardinal turning towards the altar, his left hand on his heart and his right hand holding his place in a prayer book. The work was much admired in Algardi's day, and the critic Bellori praised the illusion of the deceased 'almost kneeling, in the act of praying to the altar'. The bust conveys a sense of Baroque piety and an assured technique: the lace appearing at the Cardinal's sleeves and the short cape carelessly folded behind his left hand are brilliantly observed, and such details contribute to the uncanny sense of a physical presence in the niche.
--- Keywords: --------------
Author: ALGARDI, Alessandro
Title: Bust of Cardinal Giovanni Garzia Mellini
Time-line: 1601-1650
School: Italian
Form: sculpture