Bust of Francesco I d'Este

The Bust of Francesco I d'Este is a marble portrait bust by the Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Completed in 1652, the work depicts Francesco I d'Este, Duke of Modena. It is in the Museo Estense, Modena, Italy. The noble yet detached expression of the face, the extensive drapery and the lavish locks of hair are often taken to be emeblematic of the way Bernini represented 'absolute monarchs' as seemingly adopting superior poses, oblvious to their surroundings. A painting of the portrait bust, surrounded by various objects, undertaken by the artist Francesco Stringa in the late 1660s is in the Minneapolis Institute of Art.