Daniel and the Lion

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‘Daniel and the Lion’ by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1655-57
Cappella Chigi (Chigi Chapel)
Santa Maria del Popolo
Piazza del Popolo
Rome, May 2019
“The statue of Daniel was placed in the niche to left of the entrance. On 26 June 1657 Bernini received 1000 scudi for the figure of Daniel which was then already in its place. The surviving preparatory drawings (four studies in the Museum der bildenden Künste in Leipzig) prove that the inspiration for the statue was provided by the famous Laocoön group. The drawings show the creative process through which the classical models were studied and reinvented by the Baroque artist. A preparatory terracotta model for the statue also survived in the Vatican Museums. Formerly thought to be the work of an assistant, after its cleaning in the 1980s it has been mainly attributed to Bernini himself, and even bears his fingerprints.” (Daniel and the Lion, Wikipedia)