After Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680), Italian, circa 1800

This dramatic bust of Anima beata is carved after Bernini's model which is the pendant to the open-mouthed Anima dannata (Damned soul in hell), both of which are in the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See, Palazzo di Spagna in Rome. Bernini considered the models to be among his earliest sculptures and may later have been responsible for inscribing them: D'anni 12 ('aged 12'). The early history of the busts is unclear, but Andrea Bacchi has concluded that they are likely to have been made circa 1619 and were possibly acquired by Fernando Botinete y Acevedo (1565-1632). Despite an early inventory reference listing them as 'a nymph' and 'a satyr', Bernini's busts are considered to fall into a burgeoning tradition of representing the visage of the soul in a state of heavenly bliss, and the tormented vision of the damned soul burning in the fires of hell.