Angel with the Title of the Cross

The example in Palazzo Venezia has been linked to the commission for the decoration of Ponte Sant’Angelo since the exhibition Roma secentesca (1930, p. 89), and was immediately acknowledged by subsequent scholarship (Mariani 1930, pp. 60–65; Hermanin 1948, p. 278; Santangelo 1954, pp. 78–79; Martinelli 1956, pp. 256–257).
The specimen is one of six identified for the Angel with the Title of the Cross made by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The other known examples are located in Fort Worth, Kimbell Art Museum (inv. 1987.02.A); two in Cambridge (Ma), Fogg Art Museum (inv. 1937.67 and 1937.69); and two in Saint Petersburg, Hermitage (inv. 629 and 630). Scholars have suggested different sequences of their creation. Mark Weil (1974, 48; 1999, 148) has proposed that Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) began with the terracotta in the Palazzo Venezia Museum, followed by the versions in the Kimbell Art Museum and the fragmentary piece in the Fogg Art Museum, and concluded with the second example in the Fogg Art Museum. 
Charles Avery (1977, 168), however, proposes a sequence starting with the example now in Fort Worth, followed by the fragmentary sketch in Cambridge, then the example discussed here, and finally the second Angelo Fogg. Maria Giulia Barberini (2017, 299) maintains the priority of the sketch in the Museo di Palazzo Venezia, relating it to the initial concept found in the drawing in the Istituto Centrale per la Grafica in Rome (inv. FC 127500), while she considers the Fort Worth terracotta to represent a subsequent phase, where the positioning of the legs anticipates that seen in the marble. Maria Grazia Bernardini (2020, 450) describes the sketch as a stage of development toward more plastically complex compositions, noting the thickening drapery at the waist, the forward extension of the right leg, and increased dynamism; she therefore dates it after the Fogg sketch. The available evidence indicates that the sketch in the Museum of Palazzo Venezia was created between September 1667 and spring 1668. During this period, Gian Lorenzo Bernini undertook the sculpting of two angels—one holding the Title of the Cross and the other the Crown of Thorns—at the request of Pope Clement IX Rospigliosi, with the intention that they would be placed on the pylons of the Sant’Angelo bridge. Upon viewing the sculptures in Bernini’s studio in 1669, the pontiff deemed them exceptionally beautiful and reconsidered their intended location, even contemplating their transfer to Pistoia. Ultimately, the marble works remained in Bernini’s studio following his passing in 1680. In 1729, Prospero Bernini, his nephew, bequeathed them to the parish of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte. 
In comparison to the marble versions, the terracotta housed in the Museo di Palazzo Venezia exhibits notable differences: the angel’s head is turned more markedly than in the marble, where it presents a more frontal aspect, and is complemented by an unusual wig. According to C. D. Dickerson (2012, pp. 302–302), this attribute lends the Angel an aristocratic bearing and may echo Bernini’s recent bust of Louis XIV—a theme he revisited during the creation of the equestrian monument for the French monarch, based on the terracotta model now conserved in Rome’s Galleria Borghese, made between 1669 and 1670. The legs, positioned above the clouds with the left leg bearing the figure’s weight and the right leg relaxed, correspond to the arrangement chosen for the final version that features an upward viewing angle “imagining the angel already on the balustrade of the bridge” (Barberini 1991, p. 48). The figure is rendered without emphasis on detail, particularly in the minimally defined face, characterizing the work as a drapery study. The narrow, parallel folds were formed using a toothed tool, as noted by Barberini (2019, 299), a technique also employed for shaping the clouds beneath the angelic figure. Some sources suggest that this specimen is among the “Trè Angioli del Bernini” listed in Bartolomeo Cavaceppi’s 1799 inventory (Barberini 1994, 119; Gasaparri 1994, 223, doc. 2), while its identification as one of the “Trè bozzetti del Bernino,” number 86 in Pacetti's 1802 asset inventory appears less certain (Barberini 1994, 119; Ghiandoni 1994, 281, doc. 4). Following the sale of Cavaceppi's collection, the piece likely entered the Torlonia collection in 1810.
Records confirm that until 1909, the Angel with the Title of the Cross was part of tenor Evan Gorga’s collection, after which it was acquired by the Italian State in 1948.

Nicola Ciarlo

Entry published on 16 October 2025

Good.

2011 (restoration conducted by Claudio Falcucci). Macro photographic documentation using diffuse and raking light indicates that the fingerprints found on the terracotta, previously reported by Barberini (1992, 48) as evidence of figure modeling, are more likely associated with contact that occurred before the piece was fired.

Rome, studio of Bartolomeo Cavaceppi (c. 1760–1770); 
Rome, sale of the Cavaceppi collection (1802); 
Rome, Collezione Giovanni and Alessandro Torlonia (c. 1810); 
Rome, Collezione Evan Gorga (post 1909).

Rome, Convento di Santa Maria sopra Minerva—Biblioteca Casanatense, Mostra di Roma secentesca,, April–May 1930.
Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Il Seicento europeo: realismo, classicismo, barocco, December 1956–January 1957;
Rome, Museo del Palazzo di Venezia, Sculture in terracotta del Barocco romano. Bozzetti e modelli del Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia, December 9, 1991 – January 31, 1992;
Rome, Museo del Palazzo di Venezia, Bartolomeo Cavaceppi: scultore romano (1717–1799), February 25 – March 15, 1994.
Athens, Georgia Museum of Art, Masterpieces of Renaissance and Baroque Sculpture from the Palazzo Venezia, Rome, October 5 – November 24, 1996;
Rome, Museo del Palazzo di Venezia, Gian Lorenzo Bernini regista del Barocco, May 21 – September 16, 1999;
Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, London, Victoria & Albert Museum, Earth and Fire: Italian Terracotta Sculpture from Donatello to Canova, November 18, 2001 – February 3, 2002; March 14 – July 7, 2002;
Madrid Palacio Real, Aranjuez, Palacio Real, Cortes del barroco. De Bernini y Velázquez a Luca Giordano, October 15, 2003 – January 11, 2004;
Florence, Galleria Palatina, Vicenza, Gallerie d’Italia, Palazzo Leoni Montanari, Restituzioni 2011. Tesori d’arte restaurati, March 22–June 5, 2011; June 17–September 11, 2011;
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fort Worth, Kimbell Art Museum, Bernini: Sculpting in Clay, October 3, 2012–January 6, 2013; February 3–April 14, 2013;
Rome, Galleria Borghese, Bernini, November 1, 2017 – February 4, 2018.

B.A.V., Ms. Ferraioli 969, 321–325: "14 – Trè Angioli del Bernini".

Incisa della Rocchetta Giovanni (a cura di), Mostra di Roma secentesca, catalogo della mostra (Roma, Convento di Santa Maria sopra Minerva - Biblioteca Casanatense, aprile-maggio 1930), Roma 1930, p. 89, n. 795;
Mariani Valerio, Bozzetti Berniniani, in «Bollettino d'Arte del Ministero della Educazione Nazionale», fasc. II, agosto 1930, pp. 60-65;
Hermanin Federico, Il Palazzo di Venezia, Roma 1948, p. 278;
Santangelo Antonino (a cura di), Museo di Palazzo Venezia. Catalogo delle sculture, Roma 1954, pp. 78-79;
Martinelli, in Salerno Luigi, Marabottini Alessandro (a cura di), Il Seicento europeo. Realismo, classicismo, barocco, catalogo della mostra (Roma, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, dicembre 1956- gennaio 1957), Roma 1956, pp. 256-257, n. 337;
Weil Mark S., The History and Decoration of the Ponte S. Angelo, University Park 1974, p. 47;
Avery Charles, Bernini. Genius of the Baroque, London 1977, p. 168;
Barberini Maria Giulia (a cura di), Sculture in terracotta del Barocco romano. Bozzetti e modelli del Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia, catalogo della mostra (Roma, Museo del Palazzo di Venezia, 9 dicembre 1991-31 gennaio 1992), Roma 1991, pp. 47-48;
Barberini Maria Giulia, Gasparri Carlo (a cura di), Bartolomeo Cavaceppi: scultore romano (1717-1799), catalogo della mostra (Roma, Museo di Palazzo Venezia, 25 febbraio-15 marzo 1994), Roma 1994, p. 119;
Gasparri Carlo, Ghiandoni Olivia, Documenti, in Gasparri Carlo, Olivia Ghiandoni, Lo studio Cavaceppi e le collezioni Torlonia, in «Rivista dell'Istituto Nazionale d'Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte», numero speciale, III serie – Anno XVI, Roma 1994, pp. 223, 281;
Barberini, in Zuraw Shelley E., Barberini Maria Giulia, Cannata Pietro, Casanova Maria Letizia (a cura di), Masterpieces of Renaissance and Baroque Sculpture from the Palazzo Venezia, Rome, catalogo della mostra (Georgia, Museum of Art, 5 ottobre-24 novembre 1996), Athens 1996, pp. 68-69, n. 15;
Ulivi, in Bernardini Maria Grazia, Fagiolo Dell'Arco Maurizio (a cura di), Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Regista del Barocco, catalogo della mostra (Roma, Palazzo Venezia, 21 maggio-16 settembre 1999), Milano 1999, p. 371, n. 102;
Weil Mark S., Bernini Drawings and Bozzetti fot the Ponte Sant'Angelo: A New Look, in Gaskell Ivan Lie Henry (a cura di), Sketches in Clay for Projects by Gian Lorenzo Bernini: Theoretical, Thecnical, and Case Studies, Cambridge (MA) 1999, p. 148;
Boucher, in Boucher Bruce (a cura di), Earth and Fire: Italian Terracotta Sculpture from Donatello to Canova, catalogo della mostra (Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, 18 novembre 2001-3 febbraio 2002; Londra, Victoria & Albert Museum, 14 marzo-7 luglio 2002), New Haven 2001, pp. 198-199, n. 45;
Checa, in Checa Fernando (a cura di), Cortes del barroco. De Bernini y Velázquez a Luca Giordano, catalogo della mostra (Madrid, Palacio Real - Palacio Real de Aranjuez, 15 ottobre 2003-11 gennaio 2004; Roma, Scuderie del Quirinale, 12 febbraio-2 maggio 2004), Madrid 2003,  p. 207, n. 4.10;
Pittiglio, in Barberini Maria Giulia, Sconci Maria Salene (a cura di), Guida al Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia, Roma 2009, p. 86;
Giometti, in Bertelli Carlo (a cura di), Restituzioni 2011. Tesori d’arte restaurati, catalogo della mostra (Firenze, Galleria Palatina, 22 marzo-5 giugno 2011; Vicenza, Gallerie d'Italia, Palazzo Leoni Montanari, 17 giugno-11 settembre 2011), Venezia 2011., pp. 272-273, n. 33i;
Giometti Cristiano (a cura di), Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia. Sculture in terracotta, Roma 2011, pp. 53-54, n. 32;
Dickerson, Sigel, in Dickerson III C.D., Sigel Anthony, Wardropper Ian (a cura di), Bernini. Sculpting in Clay, catalogo della mostra (New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 3 ottobre 2012-6 gennaio 2013), New York 2012, pp. 301-304, n. 38;
Barberini, in Bacchi Andrea, Coliva Anna (a cura di), Bernini, catalogo della mostra (Roma, Galleria Borghese, 1 novembre 2017-4 febbraio 2018), Milano 2017, pp. 298-299, n. VIII.14-17;
Bernardini Maria Grazia, Bernini. Catalogo delle sculture, vol. II, Torino 2020, p. 450.