BERNINI, Gian Lorenzo
(b. 1598, Napoli, d. 1680, Roma)

David (detail)

1623-24
Carrara marble
Galleria Borghese, Rome

The youth's tense facial expression is modelled on Bernini himself as he struggled with his tools to work the hard marble. According to contemporary sources Cardinal Maffeo Barberini (who visited Bernini several times in his atelier) himself held the mirror during its execution.