Bust of Francesco Barberini
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
This marble bust portrays Francesco Barberini, uncle of Pope Urban VIII and the man who founded the Barberini family fortune, who had died in 1600, more than two decades before Bernini carved his likeness. After Urban VIII rose to the papacy in 1623, he had Bernini make busts of several deceased family members for the Palazzo Barberini, including his uncle Francesco, his parents, and Donna Lucrezia Barberini, and this bust is recorded in a Barberini family inventory of 1627 as made by Bernini[1]. Because Francesco had already been dead for a generation when the commission arrived, Bernini could not work from life, and scholars studying the bust have noted it lacks some of the intimate, immediate expressive quality found in Bernini's portraits of living sitters, whom he studied moving and speaking rather than sitting still[1]. Bernini's own account of his method, recorded by contemporaries who watched him work on other sitters, makes clear why: he believed a person was never more like themselves than in motion, and he built his likenesses from watching a subject talk, gesture and shift rather than from a fixed pose, a technique this posthumous bust could not use[2]. Scholars have debated the bust's exact date within the mid-1620s, roughly between 1624 and 1626, without settling the question definitively, but the 1627 inventory sets a firm upper limit on when it existed[1].
Where it is held
Held at National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., United States.
The bust remained in the Palazzo Barberini until after the Second World War. It later entered the Samuel H. Kress Collection and is now held in the sculpture collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington[1].
A likeness built without a living sitter
Francesco Barberini had already been dead for roughly a quarter of a century by the time his nephew, newly elected Pope Urban VIII, commissioned Bernini to commemorate him in marble. Bernini could only have worked from an existing painting, drawing, or family description of Francesco, not from direct observation, and scholars studying the bust have judged the result accordingly: it offers, in one description, a convincing picture of the sturdy character who founded the family fortune, but it lacks the intimate expressive quality Bernini achieved when he had personal contact with a sitter[1]. That gap is not a failure of skill. It marks the difference between Bernini working from life and Bernini working from secondhand record, a distinction that shows up consistently across his portrait practice.
How Bernini actually worked from a sitter
When Bernini did have access to a living subject, his method departed sharply from the convention of a sitter holding still. He insisted his subjects move, gesture and talk while he studied them, on the conviction that a person is never more truly themselves than in motion, and he built his portraits from that changing impression rather than from a fixed pose[2]. Detailed accounts of his later work on other sitters describe him sketching a subject in action repeatedly before ever touching the marble, absorbing character through observed behaviour rather than static appearance. None of that was available to him for Francesco Barberini, which is precisely why this bust, however accomplished, reads differently from Bernini's portraits of the living.
A family project after a coronation
Urban VIII's decision to commission busts of his deceased relatives came directly after his own elevation to the papacy in August 1623. Sources close to the family record that the Pope wanted Bernini to commemorate family members who had not lived to see the Barberini reach the papal throne, and the resulting group, uncle, parents, and other relatives, was gathered together in the family palace[1]. This bust of Francesco is documented in the Barberini household inventory of 1627, explicitly attributed there to Bernini, giving it a firmer paper trail than several other busts from the same project, some of which survive only through later scholarly attribution rather than contemporary written record[1].
Common questions
Was Bernini working from life when he made this bust?
No. Francesco Barberini had died around 1600, roughly a quarter of a century before Urban VIII commissioned the bust. Bernini had to work from an existing likeness or family description rather than direct observation.
How did Bernini normally create his portrait busts?
For living sitters, he had them move, gesture and talk while he studied them, believing a person was truest to themselves in motion rather than holding a fixed pose. This method was not available to him for a sitter who had already died.
When was this bust made?
Scholars date it to sometime between about 1624 and 1626. It is documented in a Barberini family inventory of 1627, which confirms it existed by that date and was already attributed to Bernini.
Where is the bust now?
It is held in the sculpture collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, having remained in the Palazzo Barberini until after the Second World War before entering the Samuel H. Kress Collection.
Sources
Editorial draws on the following references, verified against the museum and public-domain image record for this work.
- [1] book Wittkower, Rudolf, Gian Lorenzo Bernini: the sculptor of the Roman baroque Used for: this artwork.
- [2] book Irving Lavin;, Visible Spirit Used for: this artwork.
Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-09-03. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.
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