Bernini's Cristo Vivo
--from St Peter's to Princeton
for article in Princeton University Art Museum Record, vol. 77-78, 2017-18 [2021], pp, 15-23, click link: https://www.scribd.com/document/528346804/Bernini-s-Cristo-Vivo
Bernini's 'Cristo vivo' crucifixes in St Peter's basilica and
the Princeton University Art Museum incorporate a unique
revision by the artistic impresario of Baroque Rome.
Designed in 1659 and executed--under close supervision--
by his assistant Ercole Ferrata, the 'Cristo vivo' represents
the dramatic finale to the series of 25 crucifixes commissioned
by Pope Alexander VII Chigi. Tracing Bernini's earlier
developmentof the 'Cristo morto', the author explains the
surprising late addition of the 'Living Christ' to the series of
castings both stylistically (in comparison with Algardi's prior
version) and iconographically, with special reference to
Bernini's Daniel in the Chigi Chapel: in his dynamic evocation
of Christ's final words on the cross, Bernini added a proleptic
vision of the Resurrected Christ celebrated in the Eucharist at
the altar below--a brilliant conflation in sculpture of sacrifice
and triumph.
Charles Scribner III 
