BERNINI, "ENEA", Villa Borghese

Speranza



The vertical build-up of the composition and the twirling movement of tehe bodies are thoroughly linked with the mannerist tradition.

Characteristically, the pose of ENEA derives from Buonarroti's most mannerist statue, the Christ in S. Maria sopra Minerva.

MOREOVER, a Mannerist instability is revealed by the stances of ENEA and ASCANIO, who seem to slide about on the oval plinth, and by the pose of ANCHISE, perched precariously on ENEA's shoulder.

But more significant than such mannerist reminiscences, there is to be found in these figures an ACTIVE PLAY of muscles and sinews under the skin, an energy and elasticity in the movement of an arm, in the grip of a hand, or the bending of a knee, which constrast decisively with the boneless and structureless figures of Bernini's father PIETRO.

Unlike the soft and painterly handling of marble in PIETRO Bernini's statues, the FIRM AND PRECISE chiselling of a head like that of ENEA with the hair blocked out in solid masses derives from HELLENISTIC statuary.

This points the way to new statuary surface values.

We are witnessing the birth of a realistic style ushered in by the invigorating study of classical antiquity.