https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0406-420X
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ABSTRACT
The recent re-discovery in Dresden, Germany, of a well-provenanced sculpted marble skull by Baroque artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) allowed the first forensic anthropological examination of a work of this kind, comparable to those performed on biological skulls. The natural details conveyed included an overall natural and unstylized appearance, hollowed interior vault space, detailed anatomical structures, natural morphological variability and asymmetry, dental pathology, and postmortem changes common to real skulls. Morphological traits useful for ancestry estimation also were depicted in sufficient detail to allow standard scoring methods. Metrical and morphological analysis indicated that the skull was most consistent with an adult male individual of European ancestry, although up-scaling in overall size was estimated at around 10%. The authors conclude that Bernini used a biological skull as a model in order to achieve this level of anatomical detail, in contrast with many other skeletal depictions in Renaissance and Baroque sculpture.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. “Di Roma li X. Aprile 1655 […] andatovi poi il Cav.re Bernino Architetti di Palazzo intendesi, ché li habbia ordinato di portarli fatta una Cassa di piombo da esservi posto dopó la sua morte, et una Testa di morto di marmo, come subito è stato eseguito” Archivio Segreto Vaticano, Avvisi 102, fol. 445r, Bernstock, “Bernini’s Tomb”, p. 171, note 16; and Kryza-Gersch, “Una Celebre Testa”, p. 28.
2. Kryza-Gersch, “Una Celebre Testa”, for complete discussion of provenance.
3. Pokines, “Introduction”, pp. 6-10.
4. Albury and Weisz, “Three Saints”.
5. Campbell and McKenna, “The Mona Lisa”.
6. Sterpetti et al., “Thyroid swellings”; Sterpetti et al., “Goiter in the Art”.
7. Vein and Mouret, “Claw Hand”.
8. Galassi et al., “Palaeopathology of the Earlobe”.
9. Rollo et al., “Titian’s Secret”.
10. This type of analysis consists of the comparison of an image of a skull overlapping an image of a face in order to determine if the former is consistent with the latter; this method can be used in forensics to exclude individuals and offer possible identifications but not for positive identification by itself.
11. Rollo et al., “Titian’s Secret”.
12. Cole, “Bernini Struts”, pp. 58-60.
13. Coliva, Bernini Scultore, p. 41; and Rockwell, “La Tecnica Scultorea”.
14. Trusted, “Marble and stone”.
15. Coliva, Bernini Scultore; Cole, “Bernini Struts”, pp. 58-60.
16. Coliva, Bernini Scultore.
17. Dickerson, “Bernini and Before”, chapter 5; and Lavin, Visible Spirit.
18. Hibbard, Bernini, pp. 82, 202, 208, and 210.
19. Dickerson, “Bernini and Before,” chapter 5.
20. Hibbard, Bernini, pp. 118-122.
21. Dupras and Schultz, “Identifying the Origin”, pp. 447-450.
22. Langley et al., Data Collection Procedures.
23. Hefner, “Cranial Nonmetric Variation”; Hefner and Linde, Atlas of Human Cranial; and Hefner and Ousley, “Statistical Classification Methods”.
24. Panofsky, Tomb Sculpture; Piperno, “Rome in the Footsteps”; and personal observation.
25. Karban, “Occipital Hemi-bun Development”.
26. Langley et al., Data Collection Procedures; and Jantz and Ousley, FORDISC 3.1.
27. Hefner and Linde, Atlas of Human Cranial.
28. Langley et al., Data Collection Procedures.
29. Coliva, Bernini Scultore.
30. Pokines, “Taphonomic Characteristics”; Pokines, “Differential Diagnosis”; and Pokines et al. “Anatomical Taphonomy”.
31. Buikstra and Ubelaker, Standards for Data Collection. The glabella is the area above the nose and between the eyes; the mastoids project downwards below the ears; the mental eminence is the projecting portion of the chin; the supraorbital margins are the portions of the eye sockets at the top corners; and the nuchal crest is an area in the back, lower portion of the skull where neck muscles attach. All of these areas are thicker and more pronounced on average in biological males vs. females.
32. Walker, “Sexing Skulls”.
33. Hefner, “Cranial Nonmetric Variation”; Hefner and Linde, Atlas of Human Cranial; and Hefner and Ousley, “Statistical Classification Methods”.
34. Beauthier et al., “Palatine Sutures”.
35. Langley et al., Data Collection Procedures.
36. Karban, “Occipital Hemi-bun Development”.
37. Edgar, Dental Morphology for Anthropology; and Scott and Irish, Human Tooth Crown.
38. Jantz and Ousley, FORDISC 3.1.
39. Ibid.
40. Howells, Cranial Variation in Man.
41. Lovejoy, “Dental Wear”.
42. Shirley and Jantz, “Spheno-occipital Synchondrosis Fusion”.
43. Adult teeth are numbered for analytical purposes from 1 to 16 on top (maxilla), starting at the third molar and going from right to left, then from 17-32 on the bottom (mandible), going from left to right. Wisdom teeth removal therefore would result in the loss of teeth 1 and 16 on the maxilla and teeth 17 and 32 on the mandible.
44. Pokines et al., “Anatomical Taphonomy”.
45. Edgar, Dental Morphology for Anthropology, 153-154; and Scott and Irish, Human Tooth Crown, 133–136.
46. Hefner, “Cranial Nonmetric Variation”; Hefner and Linde, Atlas of Human Cranial; and Hefner and Ousley, “Statistical Classification Methods”.
47. Hibbard, Bernini, pp. 85-105; and Wittkower, Bernini: The Sculptor, pp. 88-124.
48. Lavin, Visible Spirit; and Vasari, Vasari on Technique.
49. Park, “The Criminal”.
50. Kryza-Gersch, “Una Celebre Testa”, p. 24.
51. Piperno, “Rome in the Footsteps”.
52. Kryza-Gersch, “Una Celebre Testa”, p. 29; Panofsky, Tomb Sculpture, plate 436; and Piperno, “Rome in the Footsteps”.
53. Hefner, “Cranial Nonmetric Variation”; Hefner and Linde, Atlas of Human Cranial; and Hefner and Ousley, “Statistical Classification Methods”.