The standing cardinal

The standing Cardinale develops the theme in its most hieratic form, with the schematic pyramidical structure contained in the simple and powerful mass of the stole, the serious and unreadable face dominated by the mitre, without any individualising aspects. This example, part of the Bilotti gift, was part of a casting of eight versions made in 2004 from an original of 1965. Manzù was one of the principal interpreters of sacred themes in our age, in particular the Crucifixion and the Door of Death made for St Peter’s in the Vatican, on which he worked, along with other pieces, from 1952 to 1964.