Giovanni Battista Cambiaso is depicted in an ermine cape, as worn by Doges, with a small ruff around the neck and wearing a long wig. The likeness is based on a full-length statue of the doge commissioned from Bocciardo in 1772 for the Great Council Hall in the Palazzo Ducale. The statue, destroyed during a fire in 1777, showed Cambiaso in ceremonial robes, holding a sceptre.
The bust exhibits features which distinguish Bocciardo’s work. The attention to detail, faithful rendering of the model’s features and character, as well as the free tilt of the head are all a reflection of the declining years of the Roman Baroque style and show the impact of 18th-century French portrait art.
Cambiaso’s bust may have been commissioned by his family during his short term of office as Doge, or immediately after his death.

The sculpture was formerly in a private collection in Paris; it was identified by Andrzej Ciechanowiecki. 1980 – gift of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Royal Castle in Warsaw.

Pasquale Bocciardo (Genoa 1710?–1790/91 Genoa).
Sculptor and stucco maker from Genoa. Son of the sculptor Andrea Bocciardo, pupil of Domenico Caprile and Giacomo Antonio Ponsanelli. From 1751 a member of the newly-established Genoan Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti; from 1777 he was in charge of the academy’s sculpture studio. Author of many portraits (including distinguished citizens of Genoa), tombstones and sculptures with religious themes made mainly for church interiors.
Inscribed Cambiaso on back of bust.

Giovanni Battista Cambiaso (1711–73), descendant of a patrician family from Genoa. Doge from April 1771 to December 1772. He was renowned for his charitable projects and as a patron of the arts; he initiated and co-financed the building of churches, roads and bridges as well as the renovation of the Palazzo Ducale.