Spring in the guise of Flora (one of a pair)

Pietro Bernini|Gian Lorenzo Bernini

1616–17 · Marble · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The two terms were made in 1616 by Pietro Bernini (1562–1629) with the assistance of his more famous son, the sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680), for Cardinal Scipione Borghese. Each consisting of a half-body merging into a tapering pedestal, they originally stood in the gardens of the Villa Borghese in Rome, at the entrance to the cardinal's Vigna di Porta Pinciana. Appropriately laden with fruits and flowers, the Flora and Priapus (see 1990.53.2), carved in an energetic, rustic fashion, symbolize the abundance of nature in spring and autumn.

Artist

Pietro Bernini|Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Date

1616–17

Medium

Marble

Culture

Italian, Rome

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Purchase, The Annenberg Foundation Gift, 1990