{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O77810"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O77810/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2008BT6394/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2008BT6394/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2008BT6394","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BT6405","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BT6404","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BT6403","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BT6402","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BT6401","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BT6400","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BT6399","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BT6398","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BT6397","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BT6396","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BT6395","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BT6391","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AK8524","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AN4421","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AV8128","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AN4420","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AN4419","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AN4418","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AN4417","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JT8907","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KJ4509","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KJ4532","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KT4880","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KT4879","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KV2774","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KV7837","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O77810/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O77810","accessionNumber":"A.63-1921","objectType":"Bust","titles":[{"title":"Thomas Baker (1606-1658)","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Thomas Baker (1606–1658), a relatively obscure English squire from Whittingham Hall in Suffolk, succeeded in persuading Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) — the leading sculptor in Rome at the time — to carve his portrait. The resulting bust presents Baker with dramatically voluminous curls and an elaborate Venetian lace collar. His head turns sharply to the left, while his gloved left hand emerges discreetly from beneath his cloak. Baker's smooth, youthful face, neatly groomed moustache, and self-assured expression suggest the image of a stylish, perhaps vain, gentleman eager to immortalize himself in marble at the hands of the greatest sculptor of his days.\r\nThis bust is remarkable not only for its virtuosity but also for its context. Unlike most sculpted portraits of the period, which were commissioned by high-ranking ecclesiastical or noble patrons, this was a private commission from a comparatively modest figure. It also holds a unique place in Bernini’s career: it is the only documented bust he created of a relatively young man, and the only surviving work by Bernini known to have arrived in Britain during the artist’s lifetime.\r\nAccording to the English antiquarian George Vertue (1684–1756), Baker first travelled to Rome in 1636 to deliver a portrait of King Charles I painted by Anthony van Dyck. Bernini was then commissioned to translate the painting into marble, resulting in a bust of the king, tragically destroyed in the Whitehall Palace fire of 1698. Baker managed to commission a bust of himself from Bernini, reportedly offering a generous sum of 6,000 scudi, significantly more than the 4,000 scudi Bernini had received for the royal portrait.\r\nIn a 1638 interview with the English sculptor Nicholas Stone, Bernini explained that he accepted the commission in part to demonstrate to the British what he was capable of when working from life rather than from a painted likeness. He was well aware, however, that accepting a commission from a man of such modest social standing would displease his primary patron, Pope Urban VIII. Indeed, it did: the Pope sent his nephew, Cardinal Francesco Barberini, to order Bernini to abandon the work. According to Stone, Bernini defaced the terracotta model in response. The bust, however, was ultimately completed. Bernini may have later repaired the original model or created a new one, proceeding to carve the marble version, perhaps discreetly and with assistance to avoid further controversy. The drapery is thought to have been executed by Andrea Bolgi (1605–1656), the most skilled sculptor in Bernini’s workshop at the time, and shows more mechanical treatment. In contrast, the delicate rendering of the facial features and the intricate curls are attributed to Bernini himself.\r\nA description of Gian Lorenzo Bernini's working method survives from his visit to France in 1665. He made numerous drawings of his sitters in action so as to get to know their movements and expressions. Working from memory, he then carved the Carrara marble block using chisels and drills. Bernini prided himself on being able to give marble the appearance of flesh. In this bust, the tool marks are particularly visible in the hair and the intricate lace. \r\n","physicalDescription":"Bust, marble. A young man with a small moustache and beard, his long curling hair tied with a bow of ribbon on the left shoulder; over his cloak and doublet he wears a linen collar with a broad edging of Venetian needle-point lace. The fingers of his gloved left hand emerge from his cloak. The round base stands on a square of black marble which rests on a painted pedestal of wood and composition decorated with garlands.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Bernini, Gianlorenzo","id":"A8146"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"marble","id":"AAT11443"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carved","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Marble","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Portraits","id":"THES48906"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2008BT6394","2008BT6405","2008BT6404","2008BT6403","2008BT6402","2008BT6401","2008BT6400","2008BT6399","2008BT6398","2008BT6397","2008BT6396","2008BT6395","2008BT6391","2006AK8524","2006AN4421","2006AV8128","2006AN4420","2006AN4419","2006AN4418","2006AN4417","2017JT8907","2017KJ4509","2017KJ4532","2018KT4880","2018KT4879","2018KV2774","2018KV7837"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"SHLN","id":"THES49063"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"Q","id":"THES397404"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"busts","id":"AAT47457"}],[{"text":"plinths","id":"AAT1749"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Rome","id":"x29106"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1638","earliest":"1633-01-01","latest":"1642-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"MA/1/A624","id":"ARC146929"},"association":"Archive record"}],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"82.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"70","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"estimated","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"36","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"estimated","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"134.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"pedestal","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"200","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"approx"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Carved in Rome by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1637-38;  Sir Peter Lely,; his sale 18 April 1682; acquired by Anthony Grey, Earl of Kent; by descent to the 12th Earl of Kent; by descent to his granddaughter and her husband, the 2nd Earl of Hardwicke; by descent to their daughter and her husband, the Earl Cowper; purchased with the house at St James’s Square upon the death of the Earl Cowper by the Marquess of Anglesey; the house was subsequently sold and the bust transferred to Beau Desert Park; contents of Beau Desert sold in 1921; the bust was purchased by the V&amp;A at the sale. ","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Bust, marble, of Thomas Baker (1606-1658), by Gianlorenzo Bernini, Rome, ca. 1638","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Jonathan Marsden, <u>European Sculpture in the Collection of His Majesty the King</u>, London, 2025, vol. 1, pp. 249, 412."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Maria Grazia Bernardini, <i>Bernini: Catalogo Delle Sculture</i>, Volume Secondo, Allemandi, Turin 2021, pp. 234-235."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Gudrun Swoboda and Frits Scholten (eds). <i>Caravaggio, Bernini: Early Baroque in Rome</i>. Exhibition Catalogue, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum and Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum. Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum, 2019, pp. 230-31, cat. no 61"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Vittoria Brunetti, ‘Bernini: amici e committenti. Repertorio’, in Andrea Bacchi,  <i>Bernini,</i> London, Officina libraria 2017,  p.376."},{"reference":{"text":"Medlam, S. and Ellis Miller, L. (eds.) <i>Princely Treasures: European Masterpieces 1600-1800 from the Victoria and Albert Museum.</i> London: V&A Publishing, 2011.","id":"AUTH332715"},"details":"pp.156-7","free":"Sarah Medlam and Lesley Ellis Miller, ed., <i>Princely Treasures European Masterpieces 1600-1800 form the Victoria and Albert Museum</i>, ( London, 2011), pp. 156-157."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Franco Mormando, <i>The Life of Gian Lorenzo Bernini by Domenico Bernini</i>. A Translation and Critical Edition, with Introduction and Commentary, University Park, Pennsylvania 2011, p. 337."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Andrea Bacchi, Montanari, Tomaso, Strozzi Paolozzi, Beatrice, Zikos, Dimitrios (eds)., I Marmi Vivi Bernini e la Nascita del Ritratto Barocco. Milan: Giunti, 2009, pp. 316-321. "},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Andrea Bacchi, Catherine Hess and Jennifer Montagu (eds.), <i>Bernini and the Birth of Baroque Portrait Sculpture</i>, Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2008, pp. 240-3, cat. 6.1 (entry by Catherine Hess)"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Daniela Del Pesco, Bernini in Francia. Paul de Chantelou e il “Journal de voyage du cavalier Bernin en France”, Napoli 2007, p. 412."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Marion Bourdon-Machuel. <i>François du Quesnoy, 1597-1643.</i> Paris: Athena, 2005. p.82."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"J Montagu, 'Bernini and Others',  <i>The Sculpture Journal.</i> III. 1999. pp. 103-104. fig. 1."},{"reference":{"text":"Aidan Weston-Lewis (ed.), <i>Effigies & Ecstasies: Roman Baroque Sculpture and Design in the age of Berni</i><i>ni</i>, Edinburgh: National Gallery of Scotland, 1998.","id":"AUTH348435"},"details":"","free":"p.75."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Charles Avery. <i>Bernini Genius of the Baroque.</i> London, 1997. pp. 228-230, 274. illus. 332."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Andrea Bacchi, <i>Scultura del '600 a Rome.</i> Milano: Longanesi, 1996. ills. no. 147. p.787."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"R. W Lightbown, 'Bernini's bust of English patrons',  in <i>Art the Ape of Nature.</i> New York, 1981. pp. 453-468."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Rudolf Wittkower, <i>Gian Lorenzo Bernini: the Sculptor of the Roman Baroque.</i> Oxford, 1981. pp. 12, 13, 32, 208. cat. no. 40."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Rudolf Wittkower, <i>Sculpture. Processes and Principles.</i> London, 1977. fig. 14. p. 187."},{"reference":{"text":"<i>Age of Charles I: painting in england 1620-1649</i>, London, Tate Gallery, 1972","id":"AUTH357014"},"details":"","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Review of Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. <i>Art Bulletin.</i> vol. L. 1968. p. 103."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Maurizio Fagiolo dell'Arco, Marcello Fagiolo dell'Arco, <i>Bernini: una introduzione al gran teatro del barocco.</i> Rome, 1967. p. 209. cat. no. 81."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"John Pope-Hennessy, assisted by R.W. Lightbrown,  <i>Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum.</i> London: HMSO, 1964, Vol. II, cat. no. 638, pp. 600-603,  fig. no. 632."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"A. Nava Cellini, ‘Ritratti di Andrea Boldi’, <i>Paragone</i>, vol. XVIII, 1962, no. 147, p.29."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Cecil Gould, ‘Bernini’s Bust of Mr. Baker: The Solution?’, <i>The Art Quarterly</i>, vol. XXI, 1958, pp. 167-74."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Rudolf Wittkower, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. <i>The Sculptor of the Roman Baroqu</i>e, London, 1955, p. 201."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"John Pope-Hennessy, ‘The bust of Mr Baker’, <i>The Burlington Magazine</i>, vol. XCV, 1953, no. 601, pp. 138-9."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Filippo Baldinucci, Vita del Cavaliere Gio. <i>Lorenzo Bernino scultore, architetto e pittore</i> (Firenze 1682), ed. S. Samek Ludovici, Milan, 1948, p.89."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Rudolf Wittkower, ‘Bernini Studies- II. The Bust of Mr. Baker’, <i>The Burlington Magazine,</i> vol. XCV, 1953, no. 593, pp. 19-22."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Eric Maclagan, and Margaret H Longhurst, <i>Catalogue of Italian Sculpture.</i> London, 1932. p. 158."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"George Vertue, ‘Notebooks’, <i>The Walpole Society</i>, vol. XVIII, 1930, p. 27."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Eric Maclagan, ‘Sculpture by Bernini in England. I Thomas Baker, II The Bust of Charles, III The Neptune and Glaucus’, <i>The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs</i>, vol. XL, 1922, pp. 56-63."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"N.A.C.F, <i>18th Annual Report</i>, 1921."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Walter Lewis Spiers, ‘The Note-Book and Account Book of Nicholas Stone’, <i>The Walpole Society</i>, VII, 1918-1919, p.170"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Lionel Cust, ‘Notes on Pictures in the Royal Collections XIII: The Triple Portrait of Charles I by Van Dyck and the Bust by Bernini’, <i>The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs</i>, vol. XIV, 1909 (1908), no. 72, pp.337-40."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Domenico Bernini, Vita del Cavaliere Gio. <i>Lorenzo Bernini</i>, Rome, 1713, pp. 66-67."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Baker, Thomas","id":"N1982"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"British Galleries:\nThomas Baker (1606-1658) is believed to have been the Englishman who delivered van Dyck's famous triple portrait of Charles I to Bernini in Rome so that the sculptor could carve a bust of the king. While there Baker commissioned this portrait of himself. As the bust of Charles was an important diplomatic gift, the Pope ordered Bernini to stop work on Baker's bust since this would deflect him from his task.","date":{"text":"27/03/2003","earliest":"2003-03-27","latest":"2003-03-27"}}],"partNumbers":["A.63:1-1921","A.63:2-1921"],"accessionNumberNum":"63","accessionNumberPrefix":"A","accessionYear":1921,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Previous number","id":"THES51695"},"number":"A.63:3-1921"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Bust","Socle"],"assets":["2025PK9160","2025PK7824","2025PK7821","2019LM9255","2019LR2405","2019LR0285","2019LP7780","2019LU5995","2019LW7444"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-01-29","recordCreationDate":"2003-03-27","availableToBook":false}}