# Bust of Thomas Baker [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [BERNINI, Gian Lorenzo]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Marble, height 82 cm ## Commentary Bust of Thomas Baker c. 1638 Marble, height 82 cm Victoria and Albert Museum, London Thomas Baker accompanied the famous Van Dyck triple-portrait of Charles I to Rome where Bernini was charged with making a marble portrait bust from it in 1639, but Baker bribed Bernini to make his own bust. When Pope Urban VIII heard of this, he forbade the sculptor to continue because his talents were too important to be wasted on any but papal projects. The bust as finished by the workshop. A dandified mop of hair and elaborate lace seem to be Baker's most distinguished features. ## Related artworks - [A portrait of a Man]() - [A seated male nude]() - [Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius \(detail\)]() - [Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius]() - [Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius]() - [Altar Cross]() - [Angel]() - [Angel with the Column]() - [Angel with the Crown of Thorns]() - [Angel with the Superscription]() - [Angels on Ponte Sant'Angelo]() - [Apollo and Daphne \(detail\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()