Truth Unveiled by Time: Bernini’s Unfinished Allegory

---

A smiling woman raises a sun, but the figure meant to uncover her is missing. In Truth Unveiled by Time, Gian Lorenzo Bernini carved Truth and planned for Time to draw back her covering. He never made that second figure.

Bernini made the marble for himself during a difficult period in his career. Today, you can see the statue at Rome’s Borghese Gallery.

What Does Truth Unveiled by Time Mean?

The woman represents Truth, rather than a named person from a myth. Her nudity belongs to the tradition of the “naked truth”: something revealed without concealment.

The sun in her right hand suggests truth’s power to bring hidden things to light. Below her, a globe supports her left leg. These details follow Cesare Ripa’s Iconologia, a handbook that showed artists how to represent ideas such as Truth, Justice, and Fortune.

The title Truth Unveiled by Time, also rendered Truth Revealed by Time, describes the group Bernini planned. Time was to pull away the cloth, showing that truth eventually comes to light. The museum calls the surviving statue Allegory of Truth, or La Verità.

Where Is the Figure of Time?

Bernini never sculpted Time. He intended an airborne, bearded figure carrying a sickle to appear above Truth and lift the cloth. Drawings for the project show him trying different arrangements, including changes to Truth’s seat and the angle of her body.

The planned setting included ruined columns, obelisks, and mausoleums. The ruins would have contrasted the decay of earthly monuments with the truth Time was meant to reveal.

The Borghese catalogue connects the interruption to Bernini’s return to papal favor and the demands of new commissions. His heirs eventually sold the large block of marble reserved for Time.

Why Bernini Made Truth for Himself?

Bernini began the work during a difficult period following the death of his patron Pope Urban VIII in 1644. His project to complete the bell towers of St. Peter’s Basilica had run into structural problems, and the tower he had built was dismantled. Under the new pope, Innocent X, the controversy damaged his standing.

The Borghese catalogue reads Truth as an expression of Bernini’s hope that time would clear his name.

Bernini also wanted the statue to outlast the dispute. He placed it under a legal arrangement that passed it to his firstborn male heirs and prohibited its sale. The work was to remind his descendants of the value of truth and the belief that time would ultimately reveal it.

How Bernini Uses Light and Texture?

Bernini smoothed and polished almost all of Truth’s body with abrasives to make her seem to give off light, echoing the sun in her hand. The rough rock and deep folds of the drapery make her bright skin stand out.

The less finished rock, drapery, and globe retain traces of carving tools. During the 1997 restoration, conservators also found charcoal marks drawn directly on the stone to guide the chisel.

Bernini uses contrasting textures differently in Apollo and Daphne. There, smooth skin gives way to bark as Daphne changes into a tree.

From Bernini’s Family to the Borghese Gallery

Unlike the early groups made for Cardinal Scipione Borghese, Truth did not begin as part of the Borghese collection. It remained with Bernini’s family, first at their house on Via della Mercede and later at their residence on Via del Corso.

The heirs deposited it at the Galleria Borghese in 1924. The Italian state bought the statue in 1957.

How to See Truth Unveiled by Time at the Borghese Gallery?

Truth Unveiled by Time is displayed in Room 6, the Aeneas and Anchises Room, on the ground floor. The room also contains Bernini’s earlier Aeneas, Anchises and Ascanius group.

Look at the small face in the solar disk, then trace the long rays around it. The deep cuts between the rays create narrow shadows against the brighter ridges. Follow her upward gaze toward the space above her, where Bernini planned to place Time in flight.

Practical information

• Tickets : No separate ticket is needed. The sculpture is included in Borghese Gallery admission.
• Opening hours : You can visit Tuesday through Sunday, from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. The final entry is at 5:45 p.m.
• Closures : Monday is the weekly closing day. The gallery also closes on January 1 and December 25. Check the museum’s official visitor information for exceptions.
• Museum visit duration: a standard visit lasts two hours. The final 5:45 p.m. slot is limited to 75 minutes.
• Reservations : Book your museum time slot before visiting, even if you qualify for free admission. Compare the available options in our Borghese Gallery tickets guide.

Sources

• Galleria Borghese collection catalogue — Allegory of Truth. Sonja Felici’s January 2024 entry documents the intended group, personal context, surface finishes, and 1997 restoration.
• Museum With No Frontiers — Truth. Sofia Barchiesi and Marina Minozzi explain the attributes, Ripa’s influence, and the contrast between the figure and rock.
• Bollettino d’Arte — State museum acquisitions, 1957. Pages 370–371 record the state purchase and distinguish it from the family’s deposit in 1924.
• Galleria Borghese — The Villa and its rooms. Places Room 6 on the ground floor, alongside the museum’s other sculpture rooms.