Art Institute of ChicagoPublic domain

Bust of a Youth (Saint John the Baptist)

Francesco Mochi · 1630-40

Analyst brief

What the record supports

"Bust of a Youth (Saint John the Baptist)" is a marble sculpture by Francesco Mochi, created between 1630 and 1640. The artwork measures 40.5 × 33 × 29 cm and rests on a variegated black marble socle. It is classified as a bust/head within the classification of painting and sculpture of Europe, originating from Italy.

The bust was part of the collection of Federico Gentili di Giuseppe by 1917. Following his death in 1940, it was sold at an estate sale in Paris in April 1941, attributed to Bernini. This 1941 auction was subsequently declared void by the French court. The work was later sold in 1988 at Arcole auction house in Paris, again attributed to Bernini, before being acquired by the Art Institute in the same year.

The Art Institute of Chicago acquired the bust with funds from multiple sources, including Mrs. Harold T. Martin, the Major Acquisitions Centennial Endowment, and the European Decorative Arts Purchase Fund, with a prior gift from Arthur Rubloff. It has been featured in exhibitions including "Caravaggio & Bernini" (2019-2020) and is documented in several publications, notably in a 1991 article attributing it to Mochi.

Generated from the catalogue fields shown on this page. Nartmad does not assert attributions, valuations or prices that no cited source supports.

Provenance

Ownership history

Collection of Federico Gentili di Giuseppe (died 1940), Paris, by 1917 [see Oulmont 1917]; sold, his estate sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 23 and 24 April 1941, lot 112 as “attribué a Bernini” to Aubry, for 10, 800 francs [see Hôtel Drouot shipping records in curatorial file; auction subsequently declared void by the French court]. Sold, Arcole auction house, Paris, 11 March 1988, Dessins et tableaux anciens, lot 59 as “Le Bernin” to Anthony Roth, London; sold to the Art Institute, 1988.

Recorded by Art Institute of Chicago.

Exhibitions

Exhibition history

Art Institute of Chicago, New Acquisitions: Mochi’s 'Bust of a Youth', September 1989 [no cat.].
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Caravaggio & Bernini, October 15, 2019-January 19, 2020, cat. 51; Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, February 14-September 13, 2020.

Literature

Published references

Charles Oulmont, “Collection M.F. Gentili di Giuseppe,” Les Arts 162 (1917), p. 18 (ill.).
Art Institute of Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago Annual Report 1988–89, pp. 1, 55, pl. 1.
Gazette des Beaux-Arts 67, 6 (March 1991), p. 50, no. 217 (ill.).
Ian Wardropper, “A New Attribution to Francesco Mochi,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 17, 2 (1991), pp. 102–19.
The Daily Telegraph (17 July 1992).
The Independent (17 July 1992).
Fine Art & Antiques International 7, 1 (February 1994), cover.
Andrea Bacchi and Susanna Zanuso, Scultura del ‘600 a Roma (Milan, 1996), pp. 824–26, 847–60, no. 586.
David Eskerdjian, “Scultura del ‘600 a Roma,” Apollo 138, 437 (1996), p. 58.
Nancy Moffett, “Art Institute to keep Jewish family’s statue,” Chicago Sun-Times (June 13, 2000), p. 3.
Ian Wardropper, “Collecting European Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago,” Apollo 154, 475 (September 2001), pp. 4–5, no. 3.
Stefan Weppelmann and Gudrun Swoboda, eds., Caravaggio & Bernini: Early Baroque in Rome, exh. cat. (Munich; London; New York: Prestel, 2019), 96 (detail ill.), 210 (ill.), 211 cat. 51 as Youth (Saint John the Baptist or the Archangel Gabriel?).

Comparables