The masterminds of 'Bernini: Sculpting in Clay'

C.D. Dickerson III, 37

Curator of European art, Kimbell Art Museum

"Bernini: Sculpting in Clay" is his first international exhibition.

His role: The spark plug

Dickerson's interest in Bernini's terra cottas launched and sustained the project to fruition. His discreet inquiries into the possibilities of such an exhibition began in 2007, and it will open at its second and final venue Sunday at the Kimbell. He organized the catalog, solicited the contributing scholars, and wrote the introduction and the essay "Bernini at the Beginning: The Formation of a Master Modeler" from his dissertation.

Dickerson mapped the search for all the existing Bernini terra cottas and helped evaluate each one, then wrote an aesthetic evaluation for each. He is responsible for the look of the exhibit at the Kimbell.

"An exhibition like this gives us legitimacy in the scholarly world," Dickerson says. "We are not doing pharaohs or impressionist paintings. There are not many sculpture exhibits."

Tony Sigel, 56

Conservator of objects and sculpture, Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Mass.

The catalog Bernini: Sculpting in Clay is the fourth publication about Bernini's work to which Sigel has contributed. He has also delivered lectures about Bernini's modeling and sculpting techniques to numerous conservation workshops and conferences.

His role: The forensic specialist

Sigel's 20-page "Visual Glossary" of the accumulated evidence in the catalog is an in-depth look at the physical structure and modeling techniques that Bernini used on his terra cottas. After studying every millimeter of surface, and taking hundreds of photos of cracks, fingerprints, tool marks, clay strokes, bases and assemblies, Sigel was able to ascertain authenticity. He writes: "The findings recorded here may seem pre-ordained -- the logical outcome of accumulated observation -- but this journey began very much in the dark, often without knowing which observations might prove to be important."

This fascinating look at a conservator's examinations may very well be the reason the catalog is already in its second printing.

Ian Wardropper, 61

Director, The Frick Collection, New York City

Formerly, chairman of European sculpture and decorative arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

"Bernini Sculpting in Clay" is Wardropper's 28th exhibition. Over the course of his career, he has taught at six universities, authored or contributed to 11 books and catalogs and 35 articles, and delivered 31 scholarly or public lectures.

His role: The muscle of the Met

With his long history of negotiations for exhibitions at the Met, Wardropper fronted for the team when they approached museum directors and private collectors about possible loans. "I was the talker," Wardropper says. "I'd talk people into doing things they didn't want to do." This included other curators, and occasionally his partners in Bernini exploration.

"That's one of the ways in which the catalog breaks some new ground, the cooperative spirit between the technical side and art-historical side. Rarely do the two sides work together," says Wardropper.

He wrote the essay on Bernini's drawings, which are much more varied than the terra cottas, and used drawings that related specifically to Bernini's terra cottas and illustrated his creative process.

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