''Habakkuk and the Angel'' is a sculpture created by

Gian Lorenzo Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, , ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 159828 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his ...

c. 1656–61. Standing in a niche in the

Chigi Chapel The Chigi Chapel or Chapel of the Madonna of Loreto ( it, Cappella Chigi or Cappella della Madonna di Loreto) is the second chapel on the left-hand side of the nave in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. It is the only religious build ...

in the

Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo it, Basilica Parrocchiale Santa Maria del Popolo , image = 20140803 Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo Rome 0191.jpg , caption = The church from Piazza del Popolo , coordinates = , image_size ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, it shows the Prophet

Habakkuk Habakkuk, who was active around 612 BC, was a prophet whose oracles and prayer are recorded in the Book of Habakkuk, the eighth of the collected twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. He is revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Almost al ...

with the angel of God. It forms a part of a larger composition with the sculpture of Daniel and the Lion diagonally opposite.

History

Gian Lorenzo Bernini began to work in the chapel in 1652 for Fabio Chigi, the cardinal-priest of the basilica. His patron was elected pope under the name of

Alexander VII Pope Alexander VII ( it, Alessandro VII; 13 February 159922 May 1667), born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death in May 1667. He began his career as a vice- papal legate, an ...

in 1655 giving a fresh impetus for the reconstruction of the funerary chapel. At the time the two niches at the sides of the main altar were still empty while the other two on the left and right of the entrance were filled with the statues of

Lorenzetto Lorenzo Lotti, also known as Lorenzetto, (1490–1541), born Lorenzo di Lodovico di Guglielmo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect in the circle of Raphael. He was born in Florence and married the sister of Giulio Romano, another ...

created after

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

's design:

Jonah and the Whale Jonah or Jonas, ''Yōnā'', "dove"; gr, Ἰωνᾶς ''Iōnâs''; ar, يونس ' or '; Latin: ''Ionas'' son of Amittai, is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, from Gath-hepher of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th cent ...

and

Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) was, according to the Books of ...

. A surviving drawing from the workshop of Bernini proves that the architect at first planned to move the two Raphaelesque statues to the empty niches by the altar but soon he changed his mind. He created two new statues depicting the

Prophet Daniel Daniel (Aramaic and he, דָּנִיֵּאל, translit=Dānīyyēʾl, lit=God is my Judge; gr, Δανιήλ, translit=Daniḗl, translit-std=ALA-LC; ) is the main character of the Book of Daniel. According to the Hebrew Bible, Daniel was a n ...

and

, and these sculptures formed a larger composition facing each other diagonally across the space of the chapel. Bernini created a spatial relationship that enlivened the entire chapel, turning its classical form to a new religious use. The statue of Habakkuk was placed in the niche to right of the main altar. The sculpture was set up in its place in November 1661 but Bernini was working on it since October 1656. A terracotta model for the statue also survived in the

Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...

. Since being cleaned in the 1980s it has been attributed to Bernini himself but Dickerson and Sigel thought to be the work of an assistant, probably

Ercole Ferrata Ercole Ferrata ( 1610 – 10 July 1686) was an Italian sculptor of the Roman Baroque. Biography A native of Pellio Inferiore, near Como, Ferrata initially apprenticed with Alessandro Algardi, and became one of his prime assistants. When h ...

who was working with Bernini around the time of the creation of the Habakkuk.

Description

In spite of the narrow niche Bernini produced a lively and dramatic composition. Habakkuk is seated on a rock with his lunch basket at his side and pointing towards the direction he wants to go, while the young and beautiful angel is leaning out of the niche, lifting Habakkuk's head by his hair and pointing toward Daniel on the other side of the chapel. The prophet is portrayed as a bearded, older but still strong man. Bernini depicted a story from the

Book of Daniel The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th century BC setting. Ostensibly "an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, a noble Jew exiled at Babylon", it combines a prophecy of history with an eschatology (a ...

which tells how God saved Daniel from starving through the miraculous appearance of Prophet Habakkuk in the lions' den (Daniel 14:33-36):

"Now the prophet Habakkuk was in Judea; he had made a stew and had broken bread into a bowl, and was going into the field to take it to the reapers. But the angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk, “Take the food that you have to Babylon, to Daniel, in the lions’ den.” Habakkuk said, “Sir, I have never seen Babylon, and I know nothing about the den.” Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown of his head and carried him by his hair; with the speed of the wind he set him down in Babylon, right over the den."

After the grateful Daniel ate his dinner, the angel of the Lord carried Habakkuk back to his place. This story is part of the Greek

Additions to Daniel The additions to Daniel comprise three chapters not found in the Hebrew/Aramaic text of Daniel. The text of these chapters is found in the Koine Greek Septuagint, the earliest Old Greek translation. The three additions are as follows. *The Pra ...

comprising chapter 14 in the

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

. Iconographically the statue of Habakkuk has its counterpart in the chapel in the Raphaelesque statue of Elijah which also shows a prophet saved from hunger by the angel of the Lord. Another reason why Bernini probably chose to picture this episode is that the

Chigi Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...

contained the only known

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...

text of the Book of Daniel from which the story was drawn, the Codex Chisianus 45. Curiously two early guides of the basilica, those of Alberici (1600) and Landucci (1646), identified the then-existing statues of the chapel as Jonah and Habakkuk, instead of their real subjects, Jonah and Elijah. The mistake could be an indication that a statue of Habakkuk had been part of the iconographic program of the chapel at an earlier stage.Christina Strunck: Bellori und Bernini rezipieren Raffael. Unbekannte Dokumente zur Cappella Chigi in Santa Maria del Popolo, Marburger Jahrbuch für Kunstwissenschaft 30. Bd. (2003), p. 133

Notes

External links

* Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini Sculptures depicting Hebrew Bible prophets Cultural depictions of Daniel (biblical figure) Sculptures of angels 1650s sculptures 1660s sculptures Artworks in Santa Maria del Popolo {{Gian Lorenzo Bernini

History

Description

See also

Notes

External links