Bust of Thomas Baker
 | |
| Artist | Gian Lorenzo Bernini |
|---|---|
| Year | 1638 |
| Type | Sculpture |
| Material | Marble |
| Dimensions | 82 cm (32 in) |
| Location | Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
| Coordinates: 51°29′47″N 0°10′19″W / 51.496302°N 0.172078°W | |
The Bust of Thomas Baker is a 1638 marble portrait sculpture created by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini, with much of the bust undertaken by a pupil of Bernini, probably Andrea Bolgi.[1] It is currently held in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, who purchased the bust in 1921 for 1480 English guineas. [2][3][4]
Baker (1606-58) was High Sheriff of Suffolk and connected to the court of Charles I. He may have been indirectly involved in another Bernini bust, carrying the triple portrait of Charles I by Van Dyck to Rome; it was from this portrait that Bernini carved the now-destroyed bust of King Charles. [1][2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rudolf Wittkower, Bernini, the Sculptor of the Roman Baroque, 1997 (4th ed.), p.259
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Image and description of "Portrait of Thomas Baker"". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- ↑ Berkeley Daily Gazette, August 1921, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1970&dat=19210805&id=jvkxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4eMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3676,2059633
- ↑ The Glasgow Herald, 2 August 1921 http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dpZAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=L6UMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5901%2C3299241 - This article also suggests that the bust once belonged to the Enlgish seventeenth-century painted Peter Lely, who sold it for GB £150