Name of Object:

Aeneas and Anchises

Location:

Rome, Latium, Italy

Holding Museum:

Borghese Gallery

 About Borghese Gallery, Rome

Original Owner:

Cardinal Scipione Borghese

Current Owner:

Italian State

Date of Object:

1618–1619

Artist(s) / Craftsperson(s):

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598, Naples-1680, Rome)

Museum Inventory Number:

CLXXXII

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Marble

Dimensions:

H: 222 cm

Provenance:

Borghese Collection

Type of object:

Sculpture

Description:

This is the first work that a young Bernini completed for Scipione Borghese, who already owned a Barocci painting of the same theme. The subject, taken from Virgil's Aeneid, was potent for the Cardinal because it confirmed a dynastic celebration, Aeneas being considered an ancestor of the Borghese family, while simultaneously representing the birth of Rome. Aeneas, fleeing Troy with his father Anchises and his son Ascanius, arrived in Lazio and founded the eternal city. As a result, this subject acquired by analogy an historical and theological value: Ancient Rome and the Roman Church. The flight of Aeneas was also related to the Christian idea of pietas romana, while the figure of the hero symbolised the political role assumed by Scipione during the papacy of his aging uncle (in Latin, scipio, the staff that bears, as Aeneas supports Anchises).
The sculpture retains the compactness of the block shape on a vertical axis into which the contrasting movement of the figures is woven, taken from the previous late-Mannerist period in Tuscany. On account of its transitional style, it has long been assumed to be the joint work of Pietro Bernini, the famous sculptor of Pope Paul V, and his young son. However, recently discovered documents unequivocally ascribe the work to Gian Lorenzo.
The definition of the muscles and the plasticity of the shapes demonstrate Bernini's awareness of Hellenistic art, as well as Raffaello and the Carraccis. The sculptor is undertaking a study of ancient art, integrating it into the new language of art, with its psychology and drama, which would later be known as the Baroque.
Bernini paid attention to the tactile quality of the marble, finishing the surface with different tools. This allowed him to create contrasts between finishes, achieving the illusion of colour and assimilating the sculpture to a painting.

The artist pays attention to the tactile quality of the marble surface to obtain the illusion of colour. Aeneas's escape from Troy had an historical-theological meaning: the concept of imperium is moved to the Roman Church. The theme symbolises the pietas romana and Scipione's political role.

How Object was obtained:

The Borghese Collection was acquired by the Italian State in 1902.

Selected bibliography:

Faldi, I., Galleria Borghese. Le sculture dal secolo XVI al secolo XIX, Rome, 1954, n.32, pp. 26–29.
Wittkower, R., Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The Sculptor of the Roman Baroque, London, 1955 (edition Italiana Milano, 1990, cat. 8, p. 233).
Preimesberger, R., “Enea e Anchise”, in Bernini Scultore, La nascita del Barocco in Casa Borghese, exhibition catalogue, Rome, 1998, pp. 110–123.
Ulivi, M., Sorrentino, M. A., Chilosi, M. G., Rockwell, P., “Enea e Anchise”, in Bernini scultore e la tecnica esecutiva, Rome, 2002, pp. 116–131.

Additional Copyright Information:

Copyright image: Archivio fotografico Soprintendenza Speciale PSAE e Polo Museale della Città di Roma.

Citation of this web page:

Sofia Barchiesi, Maria Assunta  Sorrentino "Aeneas and Anchises" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;BAR;it;Mus11;3;en

Prepared by: Sofia BarchiesiSofia Barchiesi

SURNAME: Barchiesi
NAME: Sofia

TITLE: Author and Researcher

CV:
Sofia Barchiesi, a graduate and specialist in Art History and recipient of a scholarship from the School of Mediaeval and Modern Art History at Lumsa University, has been working with the Superintendency for Historical Artistic Heritage and the Museums of Rome since the late 1980s. She was responsible for cataloguing the art of the region and museums of Rome, studying the period of the Counter-Reformation particularly closely. She works with journals and writes essays, alternating her research and teaching work., Maria Assunta SorrentinoMaria Assunta Sorrentino

SURNAME: Sorrentino
NAME: Maria Assunta

AFFILIATION: Borghese Gallery, Rome

TITLE: Conservation Department Co-ordinator

CV:
Maria Assunta Sorrentino, holder a of a Diploma in Painting and Fresco Restoration and a degree in the Science of Cultural Heritage (historical-artistic), has worked at the Borghese Gallery since 1993, where she manages the Conservation Department and is in charge of the technical and organisational co-ordination of temporary exhibitions. She is currently working on the Ten Great Exhibitions project underway at the Borghese Gallery. She has published several papers on conservation and history in relation to the exhibition, with particular reference to artists such as Bernini, Domenichino, Canova and Caravaggio.
Translation by: Laurence Nunny
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: IT1 05