Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) is widely acknowledged as the greatest Baroque sculptor for his monumental works such as Apollo and Daphne (1622–25) and the Ecstasy of St. Theresa (1647–52). His unparalleled talent as a portrait sculptor transformed the practice and earned him the patronage of the Catholic Church and nobility in 17th- century Rome, as well as important commissions from foreign rulers.

The exhibition explores the interrelationship of painting and sculpture during the Baroque period, bringing together roughly 30 sculptures—created in marble, bronze, and porphyry—as well as a number of paintings and drawings from all over the world, including many sculptures that have never been seen outside of Italy.

Work by Bernini and others were loaned by the Palazzo Barberini, the Galleria Borghese, and the Museo di Roma in Rome; the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence; and the Vatican.

The first gallery celebrates Bernini’s early achievements, including two bronze portrait busts—commissioned together—of the deceased pope Paul V (1621-22, bronze) and the newly appointed Gregory XV (1621-22, bronze), among others.

The commission for these two sculptors came from a man named Scipione Borghese—the nephew of Paul V—a wealthy benefactor with whom Bernini found great favor in the 1630’s. Bernini’s bust of Scipione Borghese (1632, marble) is of great importance in his oeuvre as it not only depicts his first important patron—Scipione’s patronage launched Bernini’s great career—but also marks a significant innovation in his portrait style. The marble bust is the epitome of what became known as Bernini’s “speaking likeness,” which refers to his unprecedented ability to portray the sitter’s personality with psychological intimacy in a frozen moment of time and action. Scipione is captured in mid-sentence as he directly engages the viewer in conversation. The moment is spontaneous and fleeting as his biretta shifts back on his head and his shoulders animate the creases of his cape. Bernini’s innovation—portraying Scipione as the gregarious and imperious man he was known to be—changed sculptural portraiture forever and made it common practice to “animate” the marble with the sitter’s countenance and temperament.

A section of the exhibition is devoted to portrait busts and paintings of the Barberini family—who rose to prominence in 17th-century Rome with the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini to the papal throne in 1623 as Urban VIII—and members of their entourage. Bernini’s portraits of Francesco Barberini (1620s, marble), Maffeo’s uncle, and Camilla Barberini (1620s, marble), Maffeo’s mother, will be on view, alongside numerous depictions by Bernini of Urban VIII himself, including two bronze busts, a marble bust, a bronze and porphyry bust, and an oil painting. A spiritually charged marble bust of Carlo Barberini (ca. 1630) by Bernini’s contemporary Francesco Mochi is also on display.

The work of Giuliano Finelli and Alessandro Algardi is also be on view—demonstrating the influence Bernini’s virtuosic realism had on Finelli and the naturalistic classicism developed by Bernini’s rival Algardi.

The Etsuko and Joe Price Collection is world-renowned for its collection of Japanese paintings of the Edo Period (1615–1868) featuring screens, hanging scrolls, and fan-format paintings.

Acquired over the past five decades, the Price collection commemorates painting of the Edo period, a time when Japan had purposefully cut itself off from extensive contact with the rest of the world. During that period of national seclusion, independent and diversely creative artists flourished as never before.

Throughout the length of the three-month exhibition, several works will be rotated to accommodate the scale of the collection and provide protection for light-sensitive works. Edo-period paintings are not meant to be seen by means of artificial light, but rather under a soft glow reminiscent of the light that came through traditional Japanese paper “shoji” doors.

Joe Price trained as an engineer and was tutored by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was under Wright's influence that Price began collecting Japanese paintings in the 1950s. Price purchased his first painting while on a business trip to New York with Wright. During the course of nearly half a century, Price and his wife, Etsuko, have amassed a painting collection of more than 200 magnificent works.

Highlights include some of the finest examples of the distinctive and compelling renderings of animal life by Ito Jakuchu (1716–1800), an artist who caught Joe Price’s eye five decades ago, when the artist was fairly unknown. The collection also features Kansai-region artists such as Maruyama Okyo, Nagasawa Rosetsu, and Mori Sosen, and artists of the Edo Rimpa school including Sakai Hoitsu and Suzuki Kiitsu. The exhibition has been on a four-city tour in Japan and was the highest-attended exhibition in the world in 2006.