Bust of the Savior

Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an international art celebrity. Near the end of his life, Bernini created a bust-length figure of Christ for Queen Christina of Sweden. Two other versions survive, and recently scholars have been investigating if Benini himself sculpted this, or if it was produced by his workshop. At a 2017 exhibition in Rome, the Chrysler Museum bust was shown beside one from a church in Rome that is more polished and finished, but without the drilling in the beard, a technique for which Bernini was famous. The lower wrist in the Chrysler Museum's bust is also more accurately carved, suggesting this bust is less likely a copy, or workshop version.