HERMES-ANTINOO del Bel-vedere, Vaticano-- source for Bernini, Angel with the Superscription, Sant'Andrea delle Fratte

Speranza

A drawing (Wittkowever, Bernini, p. 232, Fig. 88) shows that the ULTIMATE source of Bernini's inspiration to have been the Hermes-Antinous in the Vatican -- a statue that had been his inspiration at the beginning of his career.

"In my early youth," he told the assembled members of the Academy, in Paris, "I drew A GREAT DEAL from classical figures, and when I was IN DIFFICULTIES with my first statue I turned to the ANTINOO as to the oracle."

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