Artwork Title: Self Portrait as David

Self Portrait as David, 1630

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) painted a large number of self portraits: he holds the record among Italian 17th-century artists, and in Europe is second only to Rembrandt. At the age of 20, the Neapolitan painter started to study facial expressions by observing the faces of the people around him as well as his own, which he carefully scrutinized at the mirror. Over the years, with growing eloquence, he captured and transformed into images the silent narrative of his profile, exploring every new detail added by the years. George Bernard Shaw once wrote, “You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul” – and Bernini’s self portraits reflect something that exists in each one of us. [http://www.italianways.com/berninis-self-portraits-the-artists-soul-at-the-mirror/]
Uploaded on Feb 5, 2016 by Suzan Hamer

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