Work: Pontiff

Description

“I have gone through times when I sculpted only Popes, and others when I instead found myself representing other figures. The work of an artist should always be seen in its entirety”, Floriano Bodini.

This work in bronze made by Floriano Bodini in 1980 represents a Pope sitting with a sphere at his feet. It is quite small: it is 37 centimetres high.

The base consists of a parallelepiped on which other, more loosened three-dimensional geometric shapes divide the two main subjects of the work: the sphere, on the observer’s left, and the Pontiff, on their right. The first, placed at the centre of a raised circular base, stands out for its geometric perfection, both to the sight and to the touch: smooth, polished and showing its absolute regularity.

The Pontiff is represented in profile, sitting on a sort of podium formed by two cylinders of different diameter, one on top of the other. The figure is extremely basic in its formal aspects; he wears a wide, stiff gown that doesn’t allow us to distinguish the structure of the body underneath. Only his head and legs, reaching down towards the sphere, can be recognised.

The geometric elements and the formal simplicity that is predominant in the whole work is strong also in the way the head is represented, which is an ovoid shape. Despite this, it represents the only element that allows us to identify the image as that of a person. The features of his face are just about marked and remain undefined: there are no expressions or characterising elements. The indecipherable face, as much as the stylisation and general geometrization bring the figure to a symbolic representation: it is not a portrait of a specific Pope, but rather that of a sort of icon, a timeless image of the Pope who rule on earthly life, as suggested by the small sphere at his feet.

The surface of the Pontiff’s figure is characterised by regularly placed, clear and simple grooves, which are typical of the most recent works by this artist.

The theme of Popes is very dear to the sculptor: starting from the famous “Ritratto di un Papa” (Portrait of a Pope) created in wood in 1968 and now kept at the Vatican Museums, where he represents Pope Paul VI, the artist has touched upon this theme periodically, each time showing new changes in his sculpting style.