Gian Lorenzo Bernini
1598 -1680
Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini) was a pre-eminent Baroque sculptor and architect of 17th century Rome.
He was born in Naples to a capable Mannerist sculptor, Pietro Bernini. At the age of seven he accompanied his father to Rome, where his father was involved in several high profile projects. There as a boy, his skill was soon noticed by the painter Annibale Carracci and by Pope Paul V, and Bernini gained the patronage exclusively under Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the pope's nephew. Young Bernini rapidly rose to prominence as a sculptor.
The subsequent sculpture of David represents the introduction of a new sculptural aesthetic. It was a revolutionary sculpture for its time. It depicts movement in a way not previously attempted in stone. The biblical youth is taut and poised to rocket his projectile. Famous Florentine predecessors had portrayed the static moment after the event. The twisted torso, furrowed forehead, and granite grimace of Bernini's David epitomize Baroque fixation with dynamic movement and emotion over High Renaissance stasis and classical severity. Bernini captures the moment when he becomes a hero.
Bernini's sculptural output was immense and varied. Among his other well-known sculptures: the "Ecstasy of St Theresa", in the Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, and the now-hidden "Constantine", at the base of the Scala Regia (which he designed). Bernini also revolutionized marble busts, lending glamorous dynamism to once stony stillness of portraiture.
Bernini's architectural conceits include the piazza and colonnades of St Peter's. He planned several Roman palaces: Palazzo Barberini, Palazzo Ludovisi and Palazzo Chigi. Bernini's first architectural project was the magnificent bronze St. Peter's baldachin (1624-1633), the canopy over the high altar of St. Peter's Basilica, and the façade for the church of Santa Bibiana (1624). The Scala Regia entrance to the Vatican and the Chair of Saint Peter (Cathedra Petri), in the apse of St. Peter's, are also some of his masterpieces.
True to the decorative dynamism of Baroque, Roman fountains, part public works and part Papal monuments, were among Bernini's most gifted creations: the "Fountain of the Triton" and the "Barberini Fountain". The "Fountain of the Four Rivers" in the Piazza Navona is a masterpiece of spectacle and political allegory.
He died in Rome in 1680. Among the many who worked under his supervision were Luigi Bernini, Stefano Speranza, Giuliano Finelli, Andrea Bolgi, Filippo Parodi, Giacomo Antonio Fancelli, Lazzarro Morelli, Francesco Baratta, and Francois Duquesnoy. Among his rivals in architecture was Francesco Borromini; in sculpture, Alessandro Algardi.
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