A self portrait: Bernini is said to have
used his own features in his David.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini) (December 7, 1598, Naples
– November 28, 1680, Rome) was a pre-eminent Baroque sculptor and
architect of 17th century Rome.
Early life and work
Bernini was born in Naples to a Florentine family and accompanied his
father Pietro Bernini, a capable Mannerist sculptor himself, to Rome.
Here the young prodigy's capabilities were soon noticed by the painter
Annibale Carracci and by Pope Paul V, and Bernini could therefore begin
work as an independent artist. His first works were inspired by
Hellenistic sculpture of ancient Greece and imperial Rome he could study
in the new seat.
Bernini's maturation into a master sculptor are evident in the Galleria
Borghese
Under the patronage of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, a member of the then
reigning papal family, young Bernini rapidly rose to prominence as a
sculptor. Among these early works developed for the cardinal, were
decorative pieces for the garden such as The Goat Amalthea with the
Infant Zeus and a Faun and several allegorical busts such as the Damned
Soul and Blessed Soul. In the 1620 he completed the bust of Pope Paul V.
Scipione's villa chronicles his secular sculptures, with a series of
masterpieces:
1) Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius (1619) depicting three ages of man from
various viewpoints, borrowing from a figure in a Raphael fresco, and
perhaps an allegory reflecting the moment when son attains the skill of
his father.
2) Abduction of Proserpine, (1621-22) where the young artist creates a
monument recalling Giambologna's Mannerist Rape of the Sabine Women, and
masterfully dimpling the woman's marble skin.
3) Apollo and Daphne (1622-25) shows the most dramatic moment in one of
Ovid's metamorphosis tales. 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. If representative sculpture of human
figures metamophoses a person into a depiction in lifeless stone, this
statue doubles the conceit, depicting in marble a life changing to
inanimate tree, the moving woman freezing into a tree.
4) David (1623-24) by Bernini was a revolutionary statement in the history
of art. The biblical youth is taut and poised to rocket his projectile.
Famous Davids sculpted by Florentine predecessors to Bernini had been
static after the event; for example, the triumphant reposed of the
famous Michelangelo's David or the haughty effeteness of Donatello's or
Verrocchio's Davids. 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 classic severity.
Michelangelo expressed David's heroic nature; Bernini captures the
moment where he becomes a hero.
Ratto di Proserpina
Mature scultptural output, including his Santa Teresa in ecstasy
Bernini's sculptural output was immense and varied. Among his other
best-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). He helped design the Ponte
Sant'Angelo, sculpting two of the angels, soon replaced by copies, of
his own, while the others were made by his pupils based on 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 was shown by the fact he could hardly walk in Paris without
the street 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 King 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
soon became unpopular in the French court for he praised the art and
architecture of Italy at the expense of that of France. For example, he
said that a painting by Guido Reni was worth more than all of Paris. The
sole work remaining from time in Paris is a bust of Louis XIV which set
the standard for the royal portraits for a century.
Architecture
Bernini's architectural conceits include the piazza and colonnades of St
Peter's. He planned several Roman palaces: Palazzo Barberini (from 1630
on which he worked with Borromini); Palazzo Ludovisi (now Palazzo
Montecitorio); and Palazzo Chigi.
Bernini's first architectural project was the magnificent bronze
baldacchino (1624-1633), the canopy over the high altar of St. Peter's
Basilica, and the façade for the church of Santa Bibiana (1624). 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 tombs of the Barberini Pope and, years
later, Pope Alexander VII Chigi. The Chair of Saint Peter (Cathedra
Petri), in the apse of St. Peter's, is one of his masterpieces.
Bernini did not build many churches from scratch, preferring instead to
concentrate 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 coherent
designs. Best known is the small oval baroque church of Sant'Andrea al
Quirinale which includes the statue of St. Andrew the Apostle soaring
high above the aedicule framing the high altar. Bernini also designed
churches in Castelgandolfo (San Tommaso da Villanova) and Ariccia (Santa
Maria Assunta).
Fountains in Rome
David for Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1623-24), (Galleria Borghese, 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 are the Fountain of the Triton and Fountain of the
Bees. The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi in the Piazza Navona is a
masterpiece of spectacle and political allegory. An oft-repeated, but
false, anecdote tells that one of the Bernini's river gods defers his
gaze in disapproval of the facade of Sant'Agnese in Agone (designed by
the talented, but less politically successful, rival Francesco
Borromini). However, the fountain was built several years before the
façade of the church was completed.
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 at
Santa Maria di Monserrato, Rome. The once-gregarious Cardinal Scipione
Borghese is frozen in conversation. The portrait of his alleged
mistress, Costanza Buonarelli, does not portray divinity or royalty; but
a woman in a moment of disheveled privacy, captured in conversation or
surprise.
In his sculpted portraiture for more regal patrons, Bernini fashioned the
windswept marble vestments and cascades of hair of Louis XIV's portrait
would suffice to elevate any face to royalty. Similar exuberance
glorifies the bust of Francesco I d'Este.
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, 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 created 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, the viewer must
head around to the rear end of the animal and to see that its muscles
are tensed and its tail is shifted to the left. Bernini sculpted the
animal as if it were 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.
Bernini in 1665, painted by Baciccio
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.
The grave of Bernini at 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).
Bernini's works are featured in Dan Brown's novel Angels and Demons as
markers and Altars of Science.
Selected works
Sculpture
Bust of Giovanni Battista Santoni (c. 1612) - Marble, life-size, Santa
Prassede, Rome
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
St. Sebastian (c. 1617) - Marble, Thyssen Bornemisza Museum, Madrid
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
Damned Soul (1619) - Palazzo di Spagna, Rome
Blessed Soul (1619) - Palazzo di Spagna, Rome
Apollo and Daphne (1622-1625) - Marble, height 243 cm, Galleria Borghese,
Rome
St. Peter's Baldachin (1624) - Bronze, partly gilt, Basilica di San
Pietro, Vatican City
Charity with Four Children (1627-1628) - Terracotta, height 39 cm, Museo
Sacro, Musei Vaticani, Vatican
David (1623-1624) - Marble, height 170 cm, Galleria Borghese, Rome
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 (1620) - Marble, height 182,2 cm, Victoria and Albert
Museum, London
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, Basilica di San Pietro, Vatican City
Bust of Thomas Baker (1638) - Marble, height 81,6 cm, Victoria and Albert
Museum, London
"Blessed Ludovica Albertoni"
Bust of Costanza Bonarelli (c. 1635) - Marble, height 70 cm, Museo
Nazionale del Bargello, Florence
Charity with Two Children (1634) - Terracotta, height 41.6 cm, Museo
Sacro, Musei Vaticani, Vatican City
Saint Longinus (1631-1638) - Marble, height 450 cm, Basilica di San
Pietro, Vatican City
Bust of Scipione Borghese (1632) - Marble, height 78 cm, Galleria
Borghese, Rome
Bust of Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1632) - Marble, Basilica di San
Pietro, Vatican City
Fontana del Tritone (1624-1643) - Travertine, over life-size, Piazza
Barberini, Rome
Bust of Pope Urban VIII (1632-1633) - Bronze, height 100 cm, Museo Sacro,
Musei Vaticani, Vatican City
Bust of Cardinal Armand de Richelieu (1640-1641) - Marble, Musée du
Louvre, Paris
Memorial to Maria Raggi (1643) - Gilt bronze and coloured marble, Santa
Maria sopra Minerva, Rome
Truth (1645-1652) - Marble, height 280 cm, Galleria Borghese, Rome
Ecstasy of St Theresa (1647-1652) - Marble, Cappella Cornaro, Santa Maria
della Vittoria, Rome
Loggia of the Founders (1647-1652) Marble, Cappella Cornaro, Santa Maria
della Vittoria, Rome
Bust of Urban VIII - Marble, Basilica di San Pietro, Vatican City
Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (1648-1651) - Travertine and marble, Piazza
Navona, Rome
Daniel and the Lion (1650) - Marble, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome
Francesco I d'Este (1650-1651) - Marble, height 107 cm, Galleria Estense,
Modena
Fountain of the Moor (1653-1654) - Marble, Piazza Navona, Rome
Constantine (1654-1670) - Marble, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican City
Daniel and the Lion (1655) - Terracotta, height 41.6 cm, Museo Sacro,
Musei Vaticani, Vatican City
Habakkuk and the Angel (1655) - Terracotta, height 52 cm, Museo Sacro,
Musei Vaticani, Vatican City
Altar Cross (1657-1661) - Gilt bronze corpus on bronze cross, height:
corpus 43 cm, cross 185 cm, Treasury of San Pietro, Vatican City
Throne of Saint Peter (1657-1666) - Marble, bronze, white and golden
stucco, Basilica di San Pietro, Rome
Statue of Saint Augustine (1657-1666) - Bronze, Basilica di San Pietro,
Vatican City
Constantine (1663-1670) - Marble with painted stucco drapery, Scala Regia,
Vatican Palace, Rome
Standing Angel with Scroll (1667-1668) - Clay, terracotta, height: 29,2
cm, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge
Angel with the Crown of Thorns (1667-1669) - Marble, over life-size,
Sant'Andrea della Fratte, Rome
Angel with the Superscription (1667-1669) - Marble, over life-size,
Sant'Andrea della Fratte, Rome
Elephant of Minerva (1667-1669) - Marble, 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 (1669-1670) - Terracotta, height 76
cm, Galleria Borghese, Rome
Bust of Louis XIV (1665) - Marble, height 80 cm, Musée National de
Versailles, Versailles
Herm of St. Stephen, King of Hungary - Bronze, Cathedral Treasury, Zagreb
Saint Jerome (1661-1663) - Marble, height 180 cm, Cappella Chigi, Duomo,
Siena
Tomb of Pope Alexander VII (1671-1678) - Marble and gilded bronze, over
life-size, Basilica di San Pietro, Vatican City
Blessed Ludovica Albertoni (1671-1674) - Marble, Cappella
Altieri-Albertoni, San Francesco a Ripa, Rome
Paintings
Bernini's activity as a painter was a sideline which he did mainly in his
youth. Despite this his work reveals a sure and brilliant hand, free
from any trace of pedantry. He studied in Rome under his father, Pietro,
and soon proved a precocious infant prodigy. His work was immediately
sought after by major collectors.
Saint Andrew and Saint Thomas (c. 1627) - Oil on canvas, 59 x 76 cm,
National Gallery, London
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 (c. 1638) - Oil on canvas, Galleria Borghese, Rome
Self-Portrait as a Young Man (c. 1623) - Oil on canvas, Galleria Borghese,
Rome
Self-Portrait as a Mature Man (1630-1635) - Oil on canvas, Galleria
Borghese, Rome
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.
Links
http://www.garden-fountains.com/articles/bernini-biography.html
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