Getty Museum
A Marine God with a Dolphin
Creator
Gian Lorenzo BerniniItalian Artist · 1598–1680
All works by this person →"Rare man, sublime artificer, born by Divine Disposition and for the glory of Rome to illuminate the century," wrote Maffeo Barberini, Pope Urban VIII, of the great Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Born in 1598 in Naples, Bernini was a child prodigy, receiving his early training in sculpture from his father and completing his first bust at the age of ten. He arrived in Rome at the age of sev
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- 1652–1653
- Medium
- Black chalk
- Culture
- Italian
- Department
- Drawings
- Institution
- Getty Museum
Tilting backwards on a perilous pile of rocks, a marine god wrestles with the dolphin perched on his shoulders. Quick, curving lines and rough shading fill the drawing with vibrant movement: the dolphin in particular seethes with energy. Gian Lorenzo Bernini swiftly outlined the shapes of the rock formations as well as those of the marine god and dolphin. Using some blunt tool, perhaps even his thumb or finger, he softly smudged the lines to create the shadows that form the contorted pose of the god's muscular torso. Between 1652 and 1653, Bernini sent studies for fountains to Duke Francesco I d'Este for his palace. Other craftsmen transferred this particular design into a terracotta model, and then local, less accomplished workers produced a more static stucco fountain for the central niche of the palace.
The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Getty Museum and other institutions.