The model for the Memorial to Sister Maria Raggi by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Palazzo Venezia is home to a good number of pieces by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), the greatest sculptor of the Baroque. In the Memorial to Maria Raggi – exhibited in the Palazzetto – the artist highlights his total dominance also in the field of papier-mâché, in this case subjected to gilding and associated with a wooden support.

Bernini started from a drawing, made in 1647 and today in the Vatican Apostolic Library, to create here an intermediate test or "large model" of the final work, the funeral monument for the Roman church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, concluded the same year. 

Originally from Greece, Maria Raggi (1552-1600) was married at just 12 years old. At 18, she was widowed and decided to become a nun in the Third Order of Saint Dominic. She moved to Rome in 1584, near Piazza della Minerva, where she led a pious, austere life. The memorial to her was commissioned by three of her descendants: Ottaviano, Lorenzo and Tommaso Raggi. Bernini probably showed this model to them for approval, before creating the actual memorial in marble and bronze. 
 

The work belonged to Evan Gorga (1865-1957): its acquisition by Palazzo Venezia occurs in 1948 as part of the tenor’s entire collection.