''Boy with a Dragon'' is a white marble sculpture, now in the

Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California, United States, housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. It is operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthies ...

, which has owned it since 1987. It draws on the myth of the infant

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

strangling serpents sent to kill him. It was carved by

Pietro Bernini Pietro Bernini (6 May 1562 – 29 August 1629) was an Italian sculptor. He was the father of one of the most famous artists of Baroque, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, as well as the sculptor-architect Luigi Bernini. Biography Bernini was born in Sesto ...

and his son

Gian Lorenzo Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, ; ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 1598 – 28 November 1680) was an Italians, Italian sculptor and Italian architect, architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prom ...

for Maffeo Barberini (later

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII (; ; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal terri ...

). In 1702 Urban's grand-nephew Carlo Barberini presented the work to

Philip V of Spain Philip V (; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was List of Spanish monarchs, King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724 and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign (45 years and 16 days) is the longest in the ...

on the latter's entry into

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

External links

*http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/1155/pietro-bernini-and-gian-lorenzo-bernini-boy-with-a-dragon-italian-about-1617/ *https://books.google.com/books?id=u-i5ZGtbckMC&pg=PA77 1617 sculptures Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini Sculptures in the J. Paul Getty Museum Marble sculptures in the United States Sculptures of dragons Sculptures of children in California Philip V of Spain Pope Urban VIII Sculptures of Heracles {{California-sculpture-stub