Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Early Works

Bernini was born in Naples to a Florentine family and accompanied his father Pietro Bernini, a capable Mannerism|Mannerist sculptor himself, to Rome. Here the young prodigy's capabilities were soon noticed by the great painter Annibale Carracci and by the Pope Paul V himself, and Bernini could therefore begin work as an indpendent artist. His first works were inspired by Hellenistic sculpture of ancient Greece and imperial Rome he could study in the new seat. Among these early works are ''The Goat Amalthea with the Infant Zeus and a Faun'' (redated 1609, considered by some authorities a forgery of an antique work) and several allegorical busts such as the ''Damned Soul (Bernini)|Damned Soul'' and ''Blessed Soul (Bernini)|Blessed Soul'' (c. 1619, Palazzo di Spagna, Rome). In the 1620 he completed the Bust of Pope Paul V (Bernini)|bust of Pope Paul V. Under the patronage of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, a member of the reigning papal family, young Bernini rapidly rose to prominence as a sculptor. Scipione's Villa Borghese|villa chronicles his secular sculptures, with a series of masterpieces: :

''Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius'' depicting three ages of man from various viewpoints (1619), borrowing from a figure in a Raphael fresco, and perhaps an allegory reflecting the moment when son attains the skill of his father. :

''Abduction of Proserpine'' (1621-22) http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/b/bernini/gianlore/sculptur/1610/aeneas.html where the young artist creates a monument recalling Giambologna's mannerist ''Rape of the Sabine Women (Giambologna)|Rape of the Sabine Women'', and masterfully dimpling the woman's marble skin. :

''Apollo and Daphne (Bernini)|Apollo and Daphne'' (1622-1625) shows the most dramatic moment in one of Ovid's Metamorphosis tale. In the story, Apollo, the god of light, scolds Eros, the god of love, for playing with adult weapons. Eros is angered and wounds Apollo with a golden arrow induces Apollo, upon sight of Daphne- a water nymph who had declared her perpetual virginity, to fall in love. Eros also wounded Daphne with a lead arrow that induces her to reject Apollo's advances. Apollo pursues Daphne. Just when he captures her she cries out to her father, the river god, to destroy her beauty in order to quell Apollo's advances. Her father responds by mutating her into a laurel tree. http://www.bramarte.it/600/img/ber2.jpgIf representative sculpture of human figures metamophoses a person into a depiction in lifeless stone, this statue doubles the conceit, depicting in stone a life changing to inanimate tree. :

Finally, Bernini's ''David (Bernini)|David'' (1623-1624) is a revolutionary statement. The man coils in his original plinth (see ''illustration below left''). Bernini's David (''illustration, left'') is poised to release his rock, in contrast to poses of the Florentine Davids of prior generations, such as the triumphant repose of the famous Michelangelo's David or the haughty effeteness of Donatello's or Andrea del Verrocchio|Verrocchio's Davids. The twisted torso, furrowed forehead, and granite grimace of Bernini's "David" is symptomatic of the baroque's interest in dynamic movement and emotion over High Renaissance stasis and classic severity. Michelangelo expresses David's heroic nature; Bernini captures the heroic moment. His first architectural project was the magnificent bronze baldachin (1624-1633), the canopy over the high altar of St. Peter's Basilica http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/art/b/bernini/gianlore/sculptur/1620/baldacch.jpg and the façade for the church of Santa Bibiana (1624-1626), Rome. In 1629, before the Baldacchino was complete, Urban VIII put him in charge of all the ongoing architectural works at St Peter's. He was given the commission for the Basilica's Tomb of Pope Urban VIII|tombs of the Barberini Pope http://www.thais.it/scultura/image/sch00348.htmand, years later, Pope Alexander VII Chigi 1671-1678 http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/art/b/bernini/gianlore/sculptur/1670/alex.jpg The Throne of Saint Peter|Chair of Saint Peter (''Cathedra Petri'') 1657-1666), in the apse of St. Peter's Basilica|St. Peter's http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/art/b/bernini/gianlore/sculptur/1650/throne.jpg is one of his masterpieces. Bernini's sculptural output was immense and varied. Among his other best-known sculptures: the ''Ecstasy of St Theresa'' (1645-1652, in the Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome) and the now-hidden Constantine, Scala Regia (Bernini)|Constantine, at the base of the Scala Regia (which he designed). He helped design the Ponte Sant'Angelo, sculpting two of the angels of his own, while the others were made by his pupils on the base of his designs. At the end of April 1665, at the height of his fame and powers, he traveled to Paris, remaining there until November. Bernini's popularity even abroad is showed by the fact he could hardly walk in a street of Paris without being lined by crowds of people pointing at him. This trip, encouraged by father Oliva, general of the Jesuits, was a reply to the repeated requests for his works by the king Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV. Here Bernini presented some (ultimately rejected) designs for the east front of the Louvre; his adventurous concave-convex facades was discarded in favor of the more stern and classic proposals of native Claude Perrault. Bernini, however, soon became unpopular in the French court, for he praised the art and architecture of Italy at the expense of that of France: he said, for example, that a painting by Guido Reni was worth more than all of Paris. The sole work remaining from his work to Paris was a bust of Louis XIV (Bernini)|bust of Louis XIV: anyway, it set the standard for the royal prortraits for a century.

Bernini's Architecture

Bernini's architectural conceits include the piazza and colonnades of St Peter's he planned several famous Roman palaces: Palazzo Barberini (from 1630 on which he worked with Borromini); Palazzo Ludovisi (now Palazzo Montecitorio, 1650); and Palazzo Chigi (1664). Bernini did not build from scratch many churches, preferring to concentrate himself on the embellishment of pre-existing structures. He fulfilled three commissions in the field; his stature allowed him the freedom to design the structure and decorate the interiors in a coherent designs. Best known is the the small oval baroque church of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale (1658-1671) which includes the statue of St. Andrew the Apostle soaring high above the aedicule framing the high altar. In Castelgandolfo (San Tommaso da Villanova, 1658-1661) and Ariccia (Santa Maria dell'Assunzione (Ariccia)|Santa Maria dell'Assunzione, 1662-1664), towns under papal control, Bernini also designed churches.

Bernini's Fountains in Rome

True to the decorative dynamism of baroque, Roman fountains, part public works and part Papal monuments, were among his most gifted creations. Bernini's fountains was the Triton_Fountain|Fountain of the Triton (1640). The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (1648-1651) in the Piazza Navona is a masterpiece of spectacle and political allegory. One anecdote tells that one of the Bernini's river gods shields his gaze, horrified by the adjacent facade of Saint Agnes|Sant'Agnese in Agone church designed by his equally talented, but less politically successful, rival Francesco Borromini. However, the fountain was built several years before the façade of the church had been completed.

Bernini's Marble Portraiture

Bernini also revolutionized marble busts, lending glamorous dynamism to once stony stillness of portraiture. Starting with the immediate pose, leaning out of the frame, of Bust of Monsignor Pedro de Foix Montoya|Monsignor Pedro de Foix Montoya (1621) at Santa Maria di Monserrato, Rome. The once-gregarious Cardinal Bust of Scipione Borghese (Bernini)|Scipione Borghese is frozen in conversation (1632, Galleria Borghese). http://www.thais.it/scultura/image/sch00345.htmThe portrait of his alleged mistress, Costanza Buonarelli (1635), does not portray divinity or royalty; but a woman in a moment of disheveled privacy, captured in conversation or surprise. http://www.scultura-italiana.com/Galleria/Bernini%20Gian%20Lorenzo/imagepages/image20.html In his sculpted portraiture for more regal patrons, Bernini fashioned the marvelous windswept marble vestments and cascades of hair of Louis XIV's portrait (1665, Palace of Versailles) would suffice to elevate any face to royalty. http://www.scultura-italiana.com/Galleria/Bernini%20Gian%20Lorenzo/imagepages/image13.htmlSimilar exuberance glorifies the bust of Francesco I d'Este (Modena, Galleria Estense, 1650-1651). http://www.scultura-italiana.com/Galleria/Bernini%20Gian%20Lorenzo/imagepages/image11.html

Other works

Another of Bernini's sculptures is known affectionately as ''Bernini's Chick'' by the Roman people. It is located in the Piazza della Minerva, right in front of the church Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Pope Alexander VII decided that he wanted an ancient Egyptian obelisk to be erected in the piazza and commissioned Bernini to create a sculpture to support the obelisk. The sculpture of an elephant was finally carried out in 1667 by one of Bernini's students, Ercole Ferrata. One of the most interesting features of this elephant is its smile. To find out why it is smiling, one must head around to the rear end of the animal and one notices that its muscles are tensed and its tail is shifted to the left. Bernini sculpted the animal as if it were in the middle of defecating. The animal's rear is pointed directly at the office of Father Domenico Paglia, a Dominican friar, who was one of the main antagonists of Bernini and his artisan friends, as a final salute and last word. ]] The death of his constant patron Urban VIII in 1644 released a horde of Bernini's rivals and marked a change in his career, but Innocent X set him back to work on the extended nave of St Peter's and commissioned the Four Rivers fountain in Piazza Navona. At the time of Innocent's death in 1655 Bernini was the aribiter of public taste in Rome. He died in Rome in 1680, and was buried in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. Two years after his death, Queen Christina of Sweden, then living in Rome, commissioned Filippo Baldinucci to write his biography, (translated in 1996 as "the life of Bernini", a work which is still well worth reading. Bernini's works are featured in Dan Brown's novel ''Angels and Demons'' as markers and Altars of Science.

List of Works

Sculpture

Bust of Giovanni Battista Santoni (c. 1612) - Marble, life-size, Santa Prassede, Rome

''Martyrdom of St Lawrence (Bernini)|Martyrdom of St Lawrence'' (1614-1615) - Marble, 66 x 108 cm, Contini Bonacossi Collection, Florence

''The Goat Amalthea with the Infant Jupiter and a Faun'' (1615) - Marble, Galleria Borghese, Rome

''Damned Soul (Bernini)|Damned Soul'' - Palazzo di Spagna, Rome

''Blessed Soul (Bernini)|Blessed Soul'' - Palazzo di Spagna, Rome

''St. Sebastian (Bernini)|St. Sebastian'' (c. 1617) -

''A Faun Teased by Children (1616-1617) - Marble, height 132,1 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

''Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius'' (1618-1619) - Marble, height 220 cm, Galleria Borghese, Rome

''Apollo and Daphne (Bernini)|Apollo and Daphne'' (1622-1625) - Marble, height 243 cm, Galleria Borghese, Rome

St. Peter's Basilica|St. Peter's Baldachin (1624) - Bronze, partly gilt, St. Peter's Basilica|Basilica di San Pietro, Vatican

''Charity with Four Children (Bernini)|Charity with Four Children (1627-1628) - Terracotta, height 39 cm, Vatican Museums|Museo Sacro, Vatican Palace|Musei Vaticani, Vatican

''David (Bernini)|David'' (1623-1624) - Marble, height 170 cm, Galleria Borghese, Rome

Piazza di Spagna|Fontana della Barcaccia (1627-1628) - Marble, Piazza di Spagna, Rome

''Bust of Monsignor Pedro de Foix Montoya'' (c. 1621) - Marble, life-size, Santa Maria di Monserrato, Rome

''Neptune and Triton (Bernini)|Neptune and Triton'' (1620) - Marble, height 182,2 cm, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

''The Rape of Proserpina (Bernini)|The Rape of Proserpina'' (1621-1622) - Marble, height 295 cm, Galleria Borghese, Rome

Fontana del Tritone (1624-1643) - Travertine, over life-size, Piazza Barberini, Rome

Tomb of Pope Urban VIII (1627-1647) - Golden bronze and marble, figures larger than life-size, St. Peter's Basilica|Basilica di San Pietro, Vatican

''Bust of Thomas Baker (Bernini)|Bust of Thomas Baker'' (1638) - Marble, height 81,6 cm, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

''Bust of Costanza Bonarelli'' (c. 1635) - Marble, height 70 cm, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence

''Charity with Two Children (Bernini)|Charity with Two Children (1634) - Terracotta, height 41.6 cm, Vatican Museums|Museo Sacro, Vatican Palace|Musei Vaticani, Vatican

''Saint Longinus (Bernini)|Saint Longinus'' (1631-1638) - Marble, height 450 cm, St. Peter's Basilica|Basilica di San Pietro, Vatican

Bust of Scipione Borghese (Bernini)|Bust of Scipione Borghese (1632) - Marble, height 78 cm, Galleria Borghese, Rome

Fontana del Tritone (1624-1643) - Travertine, over life-size, Piazza Barberini, Rome

Bust of Pope Urban VIII (1632-1633) - Bronze, height 100 cm, Vatican Museum|Museo Sacro, Musei Vaticani, Vatican

Bust of Cardinal Armand de Richelieu (Bernini)|Bust of Cardinal Armand de Richelieu (1640-1641) - Marble, Louvre|Musée du Louvre, Paris

Santa Maria sopra Minerva|Memorial to Maria Raggi (1643) - Gilt bronze and coloured marble, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome

Bust of Scipione Borghese of St. Peter (Bernini)|Bust of Cardinal Scipione Borghese - Marble, St. Peter's Basilica|Basilica di San Pietro, Vatican

Statue of Saint Augustine (Bernini)|Statue of Saint Augustine - Bronze, St. Peter's Basilica|Basilica di San Pietro, Vatican

''Truth (Bernini)|Truth'' (1645-1652) - Marble, height 280 cm, Galleria Borghese, Rome

''Ecstasy of St Theresa'' (1647-1652) - Marble, Cappella Cornaro, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome

Santa Maria della Vittoria|Loggia of the Founders (1647-1652) Marble, Cappella Cornaro, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome

Bust of Urban VIII (Bernini)|Bust of Urban VIII - Marble, St. PEter's Basilica|Basilica di San Pietro, Vatican

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (1648-1651) - Travertine and marble, Piazza Navona, Rome

''Daniel and the Lion (Bernini)|Daniel and the Lion'' (1650) - Marble, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome

''Francesco I d'Este (Bernini)|Francesco I d'Este'' (1650-1651) - Marble, height 107 cm, Galleria Estense, Modena

Fountain of the Moor (1653-1654) - Marble, Piazza Navona, Rome

''Constantine, Vatican (Bernini)|Constantine'' (1654-1670) - Marble, Vatican Palace|Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican

''Daniel and the Lion of Vatican (Bernini)|Daniel and the Lion'' (1655) - Terracotta, height 41.6 cm, Museo Sacro, Vatican Museum|Musei Vaticani, Vatican

''Habakkuk and the Angel (Bernini)|Habakkuk and the Angel'' (1655) - Terracotta, height 52 cm, Museo Sacro, Vatican Museum|Musei Vaticani, Vatican

Altar Cross (Bernini)|Altar Cross (1657-1661) - Gilt bronze corpus on bronze cross, height: corpus 43 cm, cross 185 cm, St. Peter's Basilica|Treasury of San Pietro, Vatican

Throne of Saint Peter (1657-1666) - Marble, bronze, white and golden stucco, St. Peter's Basilica|Basilica di San Pietro, Rome

''Constantine, Scala Regia (Bernini)|Constantine'' (1663-1670) - Marble with painted stucco drapery, Scala Regia, Vatican Palace, Rome

''Standing Angel with Scroll (Bernini)|Standing Angel with Scroll'' (1667-1668) - Clay, terracotta, height: 29,2 cm, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge

''Sant'Andrea delle Fratte|Angel with the Crown of Thorns'' (1667-1669) - Marble, over life-size, Sant'Andrea della Fratte, Rome

''Sant'Andrea delle Fratte|Angel with the Superscription'' (1667-1669) - Marble, over life-size, Sant'Andrea della Fratte, Rome

''Elephant of Minerva'' (1667-1669) - Marble, Santa Maria sopra Minerva|Piazza di Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome

''Bust of Gabriele Fonseca'' (1668-1675) - Marble, over life-size, San Lorenzo in Lucina, Rome

Equestrian Statue of King Louis XIV (Bernini)|Equestrian Statue of King Louis XIV (1669-1670) - Terracotta, height 76 cm, Galleria Borghese, Rome

Bust of Louis XIV (Bernini)|Bust of Louis XIV (1665) - Marble, height 80 cm, Musée National de Versailles, Versailles

''Herm of St. Stephen, King of Hungary'' - Bronze, Cathedral of Zagreb|Cathedral Treasury, Zagreb

''Saint Jerome (Bernini)|Saint Jerome'' (1661-1663) - Marble, height 180 cm, Cappella Chigi, Duomo di Siena|Duomo, Siena

Tomb of Pope Alexander VII (1671-1678) - Marble and gilded bronze, over life-size, St. Peter's Basilica|Basilica di San Pietro, Vatican

''Blessed Ludovica Albertoni'' (1671-1674) - Marble, Cappella Altieri-Albertoni, San Francesco a Ripa, Rome

Paintings

There is no doubt that Bernini's activity as a painter was only a sideline which he did mainly in his youth. Despite this - indeed precisely because of this - his work reveals a sure and brilliant hand, free from any trace of pedantry. He studied in Rome under his own father, Pietro Bernini|Pietro, and soon proved one of the most precocious infant prodigies in the history of art. His work was immediately sought after by the major collectors.

''Saint Andrew and Saint Thomas (Bernini)|Saint Andrew and Saint Thomas'' (c. 1627) - Oil on canvas, 59 x 76 cm, National Gallery, London|National Gallery, London

''David with the Head of Goliath (Bernini)|David with the Head of Goliath'' (1625) - Oil on canvas, 75 x 65,5 cm, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome

''Portrait of a Boy (Bernini)|Portrait of a Boy'' (c. 1638) - Oil on canvas, Galleria Borghese, Rome

''Self-Portrait as a Young Man (Bernini)|Self-Portrait as a Young Man'' (c. 1623) - Oil on canvas, Galleria Borghese, Rome

''Self-Portrait as a Mature Man (Bernini)|Self-Portrait as a Mature Man'' (1630-1635) - Oil on canvas, Galleria Borghese, Rome

See also

List of painters

List of Italian painters

List of famous Italians

Saint Peter's Square

Trivia

Bernini was portrayed on two different series of former Italian notes of 50,000 lire. The picture was based on one of the artist's self-portraits.

External links

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/rome/es_bernini.htm