Newly discovered Bernini painting to be unveiled at Vienna museum
The Kunsthistorisches Museum says that ‘Portrait of an Old Man’, previously banished to a storeroom without a firm attribution, is in fact by the leading Renaissance artist
In December, Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum will unveil a newly discovered painting attributed to Gian Lorenzo Bernini. This portrait, titled "Portrait of an Old Man," is set to join the museum’s collection after being previously shelved in the 1980s. The piece depicts a nearly life-sized head and shoulders of an elderly man with disheveled white hair, his gaze directed at the viewer, lending the work a sense of vitality.
The museum’s curator, Gudrun Swoboda, argues that the garment, collar, and hair style of the subject indicate 17th-century Rome fashion, with the artist demonstrating a keen eye for anatomy and a sculptural sensibility. The portrait bears stylistic similarities to Bernini's masterpiece bust of Louis XIV, as well as a self-portrait drawing from the UK's Royal Collection, both dated to around 1675-80.
Despite Bernini's generally accepted retirement from painting around 1650, some documents suggest he continued to paint later in life, making the attribution of this portrait controversial. If accepted, this new attribution would reshape our understanding of Bernini as a painter, with the portrait dated to around 1670, placing it in the late years of his life.
The Kunsthistorisches Museum's exhibition of the portrait, titled "Bernini: Painter and Sculptor," will also feature works by the Galleria degli Uffizi and the Royal Collection, providing further context for the work.
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