Focus on Bust of Pope Gregory XV and explain the Description.
The Bust of Pope Gregory XV depicts a sickly, though mentally alert, sixty-seven-year-old man presented in the majestic role of pope, the head of the Catholic Church and a powerful force in international affairs. Bernini used the cope—with its gold threads, stiff formal embroidery, and jewelled morse—to convey the power and wealth of the Church. The flanking panels depicting Saint Peter and Saint Paul show the pope's saintly protectors and reinforce the office of the sitter. Bernini shows the thickness of the fabric and the rigidity of the embroidery by the "abrupt bends with which it conforms to the curve of the pope's shoulders".The pope's head is bowed as if weighed down by his cope, symbolic of the weight and responsibility of his office, and perhaps his age. His eyes are raised, creating soft wrinkles across his forehead; his gaze is steady and far-reaching, focused beyond the viewer toward eternity. The pope's skin is smooth and polished, reflecting the natural pallor of the man's complexion as observed by his contemporaries. The smoothness of his skin is offset by the "crisp, dry carving of the myriad tufts of hair" around his tonsured head and along his cheeks and jowls. Bernini converges these lines at the pope's curly mustache and beard, which seem to "burst forth almost luxuriantly" in light and shade and depth—all created by Bernini's favorite sculpting tool, the drill.
pope Pope Gregory XV Saint Paul Catholic Church cope Saint Peter Pope