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"Bernini" redirects here. For people named Bernini, see Bernini (surname)
Bernini (surname)

Bernini is a surname, and may refer to* Pietro Bernini , Italian sculptor.* Gian Lorenzo Bernini , Italian sculptor and architect, son of Pietro Bernini....
.


Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (December 7, 1598 – November 28, 1680) was a pre-eminent Baroque
Baroque

In the the arts, the Baroque was a Western cultural Epoch , starting roughly at the beginning of the 17th century in Rome, Italy. It was exemplified by drama and grandeur in Baroque sculpture, Baroque painting, literature, Baroque dance, and Baroque music....
 sculptor
Sculpture

Sculpture is Three-dimensional space artwork created by shaping or combining hard and or plastic material, sound, and or text and or light, commonly Stone sculpture , metal, glass, or wood....
 and architect of 17th Century Rome
Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
.

ini was born in Naples
Naples

Naples is a city in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old....
 to a Mannerist
Mannerism

Mannerism is a Art periods of European art which emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but continued into the seventeenth century throughout much of Europe....
 sculptor, Pietro Bernini
Pietro Bernini

Pietro Bernini was an Italy sculpture. He was the father of the more famous sculptor, Gian Lorenzo Bernini.Bernini was born in Sesto Fiorentino, Tuscany....
, originally from Florence
Florence

Florence is the Capital city of the Italy Regions of Italy of Tuscany and of the provinces of Italy Province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany and has a population of 364,779 ....
. At the age of seven he accompanied his father to Rome, where his father was involved in several high profile projects.






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"Bernini" redirects here. For people named Bernini, see Bernini (surname)
Bernini (surname)

Bernini is a surname, and may refer to* Pietro Bernini , Italian sculptor.* Gian Lorenzo Bernini , Italian sculptor and architect, son of Pietro Bernini....
.


Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (December 7, 1598 – November 28, 1680) was a pre-eminent Baroque
Baroque

In the the arts, the Baroque was a Western cultural Epoch , starting roughly at the beginning of the 17th century in Rome, Italy. It was exemplified by drama and grandeur in Baroque sculpture, Baroque painting, literature, Baroque dance, and Baroque music....
 sculptor
Sculpture

Sculpture is Three-dimensional space artwork created by shaping or combining hard and or plastic material, sound, and or text and or light, commonly Stone sculpture , metal, glass, or wood....
 and architect of 17th Century Rome
Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
.

Early life

Bernini was born in Naples
Naples

Naples is a city in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old....
 to a Mannerist
Mannerism

Mannerism is a Art periods of European art which emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but continued into the seventeenth century throughout much of Europe....
 sculptor, Pietro Bernini
Pietro Bernini

Pietro Bernini was an Italy sculpture. He was the father of the more famous sculptor, Gian Lorenzo Bernini.Bernini was born in Sesto Fiorentino, Tuscany....
, originally from Florence
Florence

Florence is the Capital city of the Italy Regions of Italy of Tuscany and of the provinces of Italy Province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany and has a population of 364,779 ....
. 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
Annibale Carracci

Annibale Carracci was an Italian Baroque Painting....
 and by Pope Paul V
Pope Paul V

Pope Paul V , born Camillo Borghese, was Pope from May 16, 1605 until his death....
, and Bernini gained the patronage exclusively under Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the pope's nephew. His first works were inspired by antique Hellenistic sculpture.

Rise to master sculptor

Under the patronage of the Cardinal Borghese, young Bernini rapidly rose to prominence as a sculptor. Among the early works 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
Bust (sculpture)

A bust is a sculpture or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders....
 such as the Damned Soul and Blessed Soul. By the age of twenty-two years, he completed the bust of Pope Paul V. Scipione's collection
Borghese collection

The Borghese Collection is a collection of Roman sculptures, old masters and modern art collected by the Roman Borghese family, especially Cardinal Scipione Borghese, from the 17th century on....
 in situ at the Borghese gallery chronicles his secular sculptures, with a series of masterpieces:

  • Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius
    Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius

    Aeneas, Anchises and Ascanius is a sculpture by the Italy sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, c. 1619. It is housed in the Galleria Borghese, Rome....
     (1619) depicts three ages of man from various viewpoints, borrowing from a figure in a Raphael
    Raphael

    Raphael Sanzio, usually known by his first name alone was an Italy Painting and architect of the High Renaissance, celebrated for the perfection and grace of his paintings and drawings....
     fresco, and perhaps an allegory
    Allegory

    Allegory is generally treated as a figure of rhetoric, but an allegory does not have to be expressed in language: it may be addressed to the eye, and is often found in realistic painting, sculpture or some other form of Mimesis, or representative art....
     reflecting the moment when a son attains the skill of his father.
  • The Rape of Proserpina
    The Rape of Proserpina (Bernini)

    The Rape of Proserpina is a large baroque marble sculptural group by Bernini executed between 1621 and 1622. It depicts Proserpina being seized and taken to the underworld by Pluto ....
    , (1621-22) recalls Giambologna
    Giambologna

    Giambologna, born as Jean Boulogne, also known as Giovanni Da Bologna and Giovanni Bologna , was a sculpture, known for his marble sculpture and bronze sculpture statuary in a late Renaissance or Mannerist style....
    's Mannerist Rape of the Sabine Women, and displays a masterful attention to detail, including the abductor "dimpling" the woman's marble skin.
  • Apollo and Daphne
    Apollo and Daphne (Bernini)

    Apollo and Daphne is a baroque, life-sized marble sculpture by Italian Gian Lorenzo Bernini, housed in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. It was inspired by one of the stories included in Ovid's Metamorphoses....
     (1622-25) has been widely admired since Bernini's time; along with the subsequent sculpture of David it represents the introduction of a new sculptural aesthetic. It depicts the most dramatic and dynamic moment in one of Ovid
    Ovid

    Publius Ovidius Naso was a Roman Empire poet known as Ovid to the English language-speaking world, who wrote about love, seduction, and Roman mythology transformation....
    's stories in his Metamorphoses. In the story, Apollo, the god of light, scolded Eros, the god of love, for playing with adult weapons. In retribution, Eros wounded Apollo with a golden arrow that induced him to fall madly in love at the sight of Daphne, a water nymph sworn to perpetual virginity
    Virginity

    A Virgin is, originally, a woman who has never had sexual intercourse. Virginity is the state of being a virgin. The term has traditionally also been applied to men....
    , who, in addition, had been struck by Eros with a lead arrow which immunized her from Apollo's advances. The sculpture depicts the moment when Apollo finally captures Daphne, yet she has implored her father, the river god, to destroy her beauty
    Beauty

    Beauty is a characteristic of a person, Location , Object , or idea that provides a perception experience of pleasure, Value , or satisfaction....
     and repel Apollo's advances by transforming her into a laurel tree. This statue succeeds at various levels: it depicts the event and also represents an elaborate conceit of sculpture. This sculpture tracks the metamorphoses as a representation in stone of a person changing into lifeless vegetation; in other words, while a sculptor's art is to change inanimate stone into animated narrative, this sculpture narrates the opposite, the moment a woman becomes a tree.
  • David
    David (Bernini)

    David is a life-size marble sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The sculpture was part of a commission to decorate the villa of Bernini's patron Cardinal Scipione Borghese – the Galleria Borghese – where it still resides....
     (1623-24) like the Apollo and Daphne, was a revolutionary sculpture for its time. Both depict movement in a way not previously attempted in stone. The biblical youth is taut and poised to rocket his projectile. Famous Davids sculpted by Bernini's Florentine predecessors had portrayed the static moment before and after the event; Michelangelo portrayed David prior to his battle with Goliath, to intimate the psychological fortitude necessary for attempting such a gargantuan task; the contemplative intensity of Michelangelo's David
    David (Michelangelo)

    David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture sculpted by Michelangelo from 1501 to 1504. The 5.17 meter marble statue portrays the Bible David in the depictions of nudity....
     or the haughty effeteness of Donatello
    David (Donatello)

    Donatello's bronze statue of David is notable as the first unsupported standing work in bronze cast during the Renaissance period, and the first freestanding nude male sculpture made since antiquity....
    's and Verrocchio's
    Andrea del Verrocchio

    Andrea del Verrocchio, born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni, was an Italy sculpture, goldsmith and Painting who worked at the court of Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence....
     Davids are all, nonetheless, portraying moments of stasis. The twisted torso, furrowed forehead, and granite grimace of Bernini's David epitomize Baroque
    Baroque

    In the the arts, the Baroque was a Western cultural Epoch , starting roughly at the beginning of the 17th century in Rome, Italy. It was exemplified by drama and grandeur in Baroque sculpture, Baroque painting, literature, Baroque dance, and Baroque music....
     fixation with dynamic movement and emotion over High Renaissance
    Renaissance

    The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
     stasis and classical severity. Michelangelo expressed David's psychological fortitude, preparing for battle; Bernini captures the moment when he becomes a hero.


Works


Mature sculptural output

, iconic image of baroque interest in dynamic compositions (Galleria Borghese, Rome).]]

Bernini's sculptural output was immense and varied. Among his other well-known sculptures: the Ecstasy of St Theresa
Ecstasy of St Theresa

The Ecstasy of St Theresa is the central marble group of a sculptural complex designed and completed by Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini for theCornaro Chapel of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome....
, in the Cornaro Chapel (see Bernini's Cornaro chapel: the complete work of art
Baroque

In the the arts, the Baroque was a Western cultural Epoch , starting roughly at the beginning of the 17th century in Rome, Italy. It was exemplified by drama and grandeur in Baroque sculpture, Baroque painting, literature, Baroque dance, and Baroque music....
 found in the Baroque
Baroque

In the the arts, the Baroque was a Western cultural Epoch , starting roughly at the beginning of the 17th century in Rome, Italy. It was exemplified by drama and grandeur in Baroque sculpture, Baroque painting, literature, Baroque dance, and Baroque music....
 section), Santa Maria della Vittoria
Santa Maria della Vittoria

Santa Maria della Vittoria is a small basilica churches of Rome Rome, on Via XX Settembre....
, and the now-hidden Constantine, at the base of the Scala Regia
Scala Regia (Vatican)

The Scala Regia is a flight of steps in the Vatican City and is part of the formal entrance to the Vatican. It was built by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger in the early 16th century, to connect the Vatican Palace to St....
 (which he designed). He helped design the Ponte Sant'Angelo
Ponte Sant'Angelo

Ponte Sant'Angelo, once the Aelian Bridge or Pons Aelius meaning the Bridge of Hadrian, is a bridge in Rome, constructed between 134-139 by Roman Emperor Hadrian, to span the Tiber, from the city center to his newly constructed mausoleum, now the towering Castel Sant'Angelo....
, sculpting two of the angels, soon replaced by copies by his own hand, 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 international popularity was such that on his walks in Paris the streets were lined with admiring crowds.

This trip, encouraged by Father Oliva, general of the Jesuits, was a reply to the repeated requests for his works by King Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV ruled as List of French monarchs and of King of Navarre. He ascended the throne a few months before his fifth birthday, but did not assume actual personal control of the government until the death of his prime minister , the Italians Jules Cardinal Mazarin, in 1661....
. Here Bernini presented some (ultimately rejected) designs for the east front of the Louvre
Louvre

The Louvre Museum , located in Paris, is a historic monument, and a national museum of France. It is a central landmark, located on the Rive Droite of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement of Paris ....
; his adventurous concave-convex facades were discarded in favor of the more stern and classic proposals of native Claude Perrault
Claude Perrault

Though Claude Perrault is best known as the architect of the eastern range of the Louvre in Paris, he also achieved success as physician and anatomist, and as an author, who wrote treatises on physics and natural history...
. Bernini soon lost favor at the French court, for he praised the art and architecture of Italy at the expense of that of France; he said that a painting by Guido Reni
Guido Reni

Guido Reni was a prominent Italy Painting of high-Baroque style....
 was worth more than all of Paris. The sole work remaining from his time in Paris is a bust of Louis XIV, which set the standard for royal portraiture for a century.

Architecture


Bernini's architectural conceits include the piazza
Piazza

When the Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford developed the first privately-ventured public square built in London, Covent Garden, his architect Inigo Jones surrounded it with arcade s, in the Italian fashion....
 and colonnades of St Peter's
St. Peter's Basilica

The Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian language as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City....
. He planned several Roman palaces: Palazzo Barberini
Palazzo Barberini

Palazzo Barberini is a palace in Rome, on the Piazza Barberini in Rione.The sloping site had formerly been occupied by a garden-vineyard of the Sforza family, in which a palazzetto had been built in 1549....
 (from 1630 on which he worked with Borromini); Palazzo Ludovisi (now Palazzo Montecitorio); and Palazzo Chigi
Palazzo Chigi

The Palazzo Chigi is a palace or noble residence in Rome, overlooking the Piazza Colonna and the Via del Corso. It was begun in 1562 by Giacomo della Porta and completed by Carlo Maderno in 1580 for the Aldobrandini....
.

Bernini's first architectural project was the magnificent bronze St. Peter's baldachin
St. Peter's baldachin

St. Peter's baldachin is a large sculpted bronze canopy designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and located over the high altar and beneath the dome of the Basilica of St....
 (1624-1633), the canopy over the high altar of St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica

The Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian language as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City....
, and the façade
Facade

A facade or fa?ade is generally one side of the exterior of a building, especially the front, but also sometimes the sides and rear. The Word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
 for the church of Santa Bibiana
Santa Bibiana

Santa Bibiana is a small churches of Rome Rome, devoted to St Bibiana. It was initially built by Pope Simplicius, and consecrated in 467. The church was restored by Pope Honorius III in 1224....
 (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 tomb of the Barberini Pope. However, due to political reasons and miscalculations in the design of bell-towers for St. Peter's, Bernini fell generally out of favor during the Pamphili
Pamphili

The Pamphili are one of the Papal families deeply entrenched in Roman politics of the 16th and 17th centuries. The Pamphilj originated in Gubbio and went to Rome under the pontificate of Pope Innocent VIII ....
 papacy of Innocent X. Never wholly without patronage, Bernini again regained a major role in the decoration of St. Peter's with the Pope Alexander VII
Pope Alexander VII

Pope Alexander VII , born Fabio Chigi, was Pope from April 7, 1655, until his death....
 Chigi
Chigi

Chigi may refer to:* Chigi , a crossbreed of a Corgi and a Chihuahua* The Chigi-Albani family...
, leading to his design of the colonnade and piazza in front of St. Peter's. The Scala Regia entrance to the Vatican and the Chair of Saint Peter (Cathedra Petri
Cathedra

A cathedra is the chair or throne of a bishop. It is a symbol of the bishop's teaching authority in the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, and has in some sense remained such in the Anglican Communion and in Lutheran church es....
), in the apse of St. Peter's, are also some of his masterpiece
Masterpiece

Masterpiece in modern usage refers to a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or to a work of outstanding creativity, skill or workmanship....
s.

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
Sant'Andrea al Quirinale

Sant'Andrea al Quirinale is the church of the Jesuit seminary on the Quirinal Hill in Rome.It was designed by Bernini and Giovanni Battista de Rossi over two decades ....
 which includes the statue of St. Andrew the Apostle
Saint Andrew

Saint Andrew , called in the Eastern Orthodox Church tradition Protocletos, or the First-called, is a Christian Twelve Apostles and the younger brother of Saint Peter....
 soaring high above the aedicule framing the high altar. Bernini also designed churches in Castelgandolfo (San Tommaso da Villanova) and Ariccia
Ariccia

Ariccia is a town and comune in the Province of Rome. It is in the Alban Hills of the Lazio region and could be considered an extension of Rome's southeastern suburbs....
 (Santa Maria Assunta).

Bernini was also hired by Louis XIV from June to November 1665 to build the colonnade
Colonnade

In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, as in the famous elliptically curving colonnades that Bernini added to the fa?ade of The apostel Peter's Basilica in Rome, which embrace and define the Piazza....
 of the Louvre
Louvre

The Louvre Museum , located in Paris, is a historic monument, and a national museum of France. It is a central landmark, located on the Rive Droite of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement of Paris ....
 in Paris (where he met Paul Fréart de Chantelou
Paul Fréart de Chantelou

Paul Fr?art de Chantelou was a French collector. He patronised and encouraged major artists of this era, in particular Nicolas Poussin and Gian Lorenzo Bernini ....
, who kept a Journal of the meeting), but was ultimately turned down in favor of French architect Claude Perrault
Claude Perrault

Though Claude Perrault is best known as the architect of the eastern range of the Louvre in Paris, he also achieved success as physician and anatomist, and as an author, who wrote treatises on physics and natural history...
, signalling the waning influence of Italian art in France. Perrault's final design did, however, include Bernini's feature of a flat roof behind a Palladian balustrade.

Fountains in Rome

, Fontana del Moro in Rome ]]

True to the decorative dynamism of Baroque, Roman fountain
Fountain

A traditional fountain is an arrangement where water issues from a source , fills a basin of some kind, and is drained away. Fountains may be wall fountains or free-standing....
s, part public works and part Papal monuments, were among his most gifted creations. Bernini's fountains are the Fountain of the Triton
Triton Fountain

Gian Lorenzo Bernini's baroque Triton Fountain is located in Piazza Barberini, Rome, near the entrance to the Palazzo Barberini , which Bernini helped redesign for his patron Maffeo Barberini, who had become pope as Pope Urban VIII....
 and the Barberini Fountain (Fontana delle api
Fontana delle Api

The Fontana delle Api, or Fountain of the Bees, is a fountain located in the Piazza Barberini in Rome where the piazza meets Via Sistina. The sculptor Bernini completed the fountain in April 1644....
). The Fountain of the Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi
Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi

The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or "Fountain of the Four Rivers" occupies the center of the large oval Piazza Navona in Rome. It is a masterpiece of Gianlorenzo Bernini, and emblematic of the dynamic and dramatic effects sought by high Baroque artists....
) in the Piazza Navona
Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona is a city square in Rome, Italy. It follows the plan of an ancient Ancient Rome Circus , the 1st century Stadium of Domitian, where the Romans came to watch the agones : It was known as 'Circus Agonalis' ....
 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
Sant'Agnese in Agone

Sant'Agnese in Agone is a basilica churches of Rome Rome. Construction started in 1652 under the planning of Carlo Rainaldi on the site where Saint Agnes was martyr in the Circus of Domitian, now the Piazza Navona in Rome....
 (designed by the talented, but less politically successful, rival Francesco Borromini
Francesco Borromini

Francesco Borromini, byname of Francesco Castelli was a prominent and influential Italy Swiss born Baroque architect in Rome....
). However, the fountain was built several years before the façade of the church was completed.

Marble portraiture

's portrait of Charles, portraying different angles from which Bernini could produce a sculpture]] 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
Santa Maria in Monserrato degli Spagnoli

Santa Maria in Monserrato degli Spagnoli is the Spanish National church in Rome....
, Rome. The once-gregarious Cardinal Scipione Borghese
Scipione Borghese

Cardinal Scipione Borghese was an Italy Renaissance prelate, art collector and member of the noble Borghese family....
, in his bust is frozen in conversation. The portrait of his alleged mistress, Costanza Bonarelli, does not portray divinity or royalty; but a woman in a moment of disheveled privacy, captured in conversation or surprise.

Bernini also gained royal commissions from outside Italy, for subjects such as Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV ruled as List of French monarchs and of King of Navarre. He ascended the throne a few months before his fifth birthday, but did not assume actual personal control of the government until the death of his prime minister , the Italians Jules Cardinal Mazarin, in 1661....
, Cardinal Richelieu, Francesco I d'Este
Francesco I d'Este

Francesco I d'Este was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1644 until his death....
, Charles I of England
Charles I of England

Charles I was List of English monarchs, List of monarchs of Scotland and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his capital punishment on 30 January 1649....
 and Henrietta Maria
Henrietta Maria of France

Henrietta Maria , was Princess of France and Queen Consort of England, Scotland and Ireland through her marriage to Charles I of England. She was the mother of two kings, Charles II of England and James II of England, and was grandmother to Mary II of Great Britain, William III of England, and Anne of Great Britain....
. The last two were produced in Italy from portraits made by Van Dyck (now in the royal collection), though Bernini preferred to produce portraits from life - the bust of Charles was lost in the Whitehall Palace fire of 1698 and that of Henrietta Maria was not undertaken due to the outbreak of the English Civil War
English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Roundhead and Cavalier. The First English Civil War and Second English Civil War civil wars pitted the supporters of Charles I of England against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the Third English Civil War saw fighting between supporters...
.

An exhibition co-organized by the J. Paul Getty Museum
J. Paul Getty Museum

The J. Paul Getty Museum, a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust, is an art museum. It has two locations, one at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California and one at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California....
, Los Angeles, and the National Gallery of Canada
National Gallery of Canada

The National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city Ottawa, Ontario, is one of Canada's premier art galleries. The Gallery is housed in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill....
, Ottawa, explores Bernini's portraits: .

Other works

Berninibaciccio1665
Berninigrave
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
Santa Maria sopra Minerva

Santa Maria sopra Minerva is a basilica churches of Rome Rome. The church, located in the Piazza della Minerva in the Campus Martius region, is considered the only Gothic architecture church in Rome, and is the city's principal Dominican Order church....
. Pope Alexander VII
Alexander VII

Alexander VII may refer to:* Pope Alexander VII* Alexander VII of Pskov...
 decided that he wanted an ancient Egyptian obelisk
Obelisk

An obelisk An Obelisks is a tall, narrow, four-sided, tapering monument which ends in a pyramid like shape at the top. Ancient obelisks were made of a single piece of stone, a monolith; however, most modern obelisks are made of individual stones, and can even have interior spaces....
 to be erected in the piazza
Piazza

When the Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford developed the first privately-ventured public square built in London, Covent Garden, his architect Inigo Jones surrounded it with arcade s, in the Italian fashion....
 and commissioned Bernini to create a sculpture to support the obelisk. The sculpture of an elephant
Elephant

Elephants are large land mammals of the order Proboscidea and the family Elephantidae. There are three living species: the African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant and the Asian Elephant ....
 was finally created in 1667 by one of Bernini's students, Ercole Ferrata
Ercole Ferrata

Ercole Ferrata was an Italy sculpture of the Roman Baroque....
. 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 worked along with Ercole Ferrata
Ercole Ferrata

Ercole Ferrata was an Italy sculpture of the Roman Baroque....
 to created a much admired fountain for the Lisbon Palace of the Portuguese nobleman Count of Ericeira. For the same patron he also created a series of paintings with the battles of Louis XIV as subject. These works were lost as the Palace, great Library and rich art collection of the Counts of Ericeira were destroyed along most of central Lisbon due to the great earthquake of 1755.

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
Nave

In Romanesque architecture and Gothic architecture Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and Church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar....
 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
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

The Basilica of Saint Mary Major , is an Ancient Rome Roman Catholic Church basilica of Rome. It is one of the Basilica#The major basilicas or Basilica#Papal and patriarchal basilicas in Rome, which, together with Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, were formerly referred to as the five "patriarchal basilicas" of Rome, associated with the...
. Among the many who worked under his supervision were Luigi Bernini, Stefano Speranza, Giuliano Finelli
Giuliano Finelli

Giuliano Finelli was an Italy Baroque sculptor who emerged from the workshop of Gian Lorenzo Bernini.He was born in Carrara to a family of marble masons in a town associated with mining of the stone, and he initially trained with Michelangelo Naccherino....
, Andrea Bolgi
Andrea Bolgi

Andrea Bolgi was an Italian sculptor responsible for several statues in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. Towards the end of his life he moved to Naples, where he sculpted portrait busts....
, Filippo Parodi
Filippo Parodi

Filippo Parodi was an Italy sculptor of the Baroque period....
, Giacomo Antonio Fancelli
Giacomo Antonio Fancelli

File:Quattro fiumi d.JPGGiacomo Antonio Fancelli was an Italian sculptor in stone and stucco of the Baroque art. He was the brother of Cosimo Fancelli and a pupil of Bernini....
, Lazzaro Morelli
Lazzaro Morelli

Lazzaro Morelli was an Italy sculptor of the Baroque period. Born in Ascoli Piceno, the son of the Florentine sculptor Fulgenzio Morelli, who also trained Lazzaro's cousin, the artist Giuseppe Giosafatti....
, Francesco Baratta, and Francois Duquesnoy
François Duquesnoy

Fran?ois Duquesnoy was a prominent Baroque sculptor in Rome. His more idealized representations are often contrasted with the emotional character of Gian Lorenzo Bernini's works, while his style shows greater affinity to Alessandro Algardi's sculptures....
. Among his rivals in architecture was Francesco Borromini
Francesco Borromini

Francesco Borromini, byname of Francesco Castelli was a prominent and influential Italy Swiss born Baroque architect in Rome....
; in sculpture, Alessandro Algardi
Alessandro Algardi

Alessandro Algardi was an Italy high-Baroque sculptor active almost exclusively in Rome, where for the latter decades of his life, he was the major rival of Gian Lorenzo Bernini....
.

Two years after his death, Queen Christina of Sweden
Christina of Sweden

Christina , later known as Christina Alexandra and sometimes Countess Dohna, was Monarch of Sweden of Sweden from 1632 to 1654. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and his wife Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg....
, then living in Rome, commissioned Filippo Baldinucci
Filippo Baldinucci

Filippo Baldinucci was an Italy art historian and biographer.He is considered among the most significant Florence biographers/historians of the artists and the arts of the Baroque period....
 to write his biography, (translated in 1996 as The life of Bernini).

Selected works


Sculpture

Blessed Ludovica Albertoni
Rome, ]]
  • Bust of Giovanni Battista Santoni (c. 1612) - Marble, life-size, Santa Prassede
    Santa Prassede

    The Basilica of Saint Praxedes is a titular minor basilica in Rome, located near the major basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.The current Cardinal Priest of Titulus Sancta Praxedis is Paul Cardinal Poupard....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Martyrdom of St. Lawrence (1614-1615) - Marble, 66 x 108 cm, Contini Bonacossi Collection, Florence
    Florence

    Florence is the Capital city of the Italy Regions of Italy of Tuscany and of the provinces of Italy Province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany and has a population of 364,779 ....
  • The Goat Amalthea with the Infant Jupiter and a Faun
    The Goat Amalthea with the Infant Jupiter and a Faun

    The Goat Amalthea with the Infant Jupiter and a Faun is an early sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Produced in 1625, it is now in the Borghese Collection at the Galleria Borghese....
     (1615) - Marble, Galleria Borghese
    Galleria Borghese

    The Borghese Gallery in Rome is an art gallery housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana, a building that was from the first integral with its gardens, nowadays considered quite separately by tourists as the Villa Borghese gardens....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • St. Sebastian (c. 1617) - Marble, Thyssen Bornemisza Museum, Madrid
    Madrid

    Madrid is the Capital and largest city of Spain. It is the Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its Madrid metropolitan area is the Largest urban areas of the European Union in the European Union after Paris aire urbaine, Greater London Urban Area, a...
  • A Faun Teased by Children (1616-1617) - Marble, height 132,1 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art
    Metropolitan Museum of Art

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile, New York City in New York City, USA....
    , New York
    New York

    The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
  • Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius
    Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius

    Aeneas, Anchises and Ascanius is a sculpture by the Italy sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, c. 1619. It is housed in the Galleria Borghese, Rome....
     (1618-1619) - Marble, height 220 cm, Galleria Borghese
    Galleria Borghese

    The Borghese Gallery in Rome is an art gallery housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana, a building that was from the first integral with its gardens, nowadays considered quite separately by tourists as the Villa Borghese gardens....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Damned Soul (1619) - Palazzo di Spagna, Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Blessed Soul (1619) - Palazzo di Spagna, Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Apollo and Daphne
    Apollo and Daphne (Bernini)

    Apollo and Daphne is a baroque, life-sized marble sculpture by Italian Gian Lorenzo Bernini, housed in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. It was inspired by one of the stories included in Ovid's Metamorphoses....
     (1622-1625) - Marble, height 243 cm, Galleria Borghese
    Galleria Borghese

    The Borghese Gallery in Rome is an art gallery housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana, a building that was from the first integral with its gardens, nowadays considered quite separately by tourists as the Villa Borghese gardens....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • St. Peter's Baldachin
    St. Peter's baldachin

    St. Peter's baldachin is a large sculpted bronze canopy designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and located over the high altar and beneath the dome of the Basilica of St....
     (1624) - Bronze, partly gilt, Basilica di San Pietro
    St. Peter's Basilica

    The Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian language as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City....
    , Vatican City
    Vatican City

    Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
  • Charity with Four Children
    Charity with Four Children (Bernini)

    Charity with Four Children is a sculpture by the 17th century Italy sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It is housed in the Vatican Museum of Rome....
     (1627-1628) - Terracotta, height 39 cm, Museo Sacro
    Vatican Museums

    The Vatican Museums , in Viale Vaticano in Rome, inside the Vatican City, are among the greatest museums in the world, since they display works from the immense collection built up by Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries....
    , Musei Vaticani, Vatican
  • David
    David (Bernini)

    David is a life-size marble sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The sculpture was part of a commission to decorate the villa of Bernini's patron Cardinal Scipione Borghese – the Galleria Borghese – where it still resides....
     (1623-1624) - Marble, height 170 cm, Galleria Borghese
    Galleria Borghese

    The Borghese Gallery in Rome is an art gallery housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana, a building that was from the first integral with its gardens, nowadays considered quite separately by tourists as the Villa Borghese gardens....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Fontana della Barcaccia (1627-1628) - Marble, Piazza di Spagna, Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Bust of Monsignor Pedro de Foix Montoya (c. 1621) - Marble, life-size, Santa Maria di Monserrato, Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Neptune and Triton
    Neptune and Triton (Bernini)

    Neptune and Triton is an early sculpture by the 17th century Italy sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It is housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum of London dated c 1620-22, carved from marble it stands 182 cm in height....
     (1620) - Marble, height 182,2 cm, Victoria and Albert Museum
    Victoria and Albert Museum

    The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million Object ....
    , London
    London

    London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
  • The Rape of Proserpina
    The Rape of Proserpina (Bernini)

    The Rape of Proserpina is a large baroque marble sculptural group by Bernini executed between 1621 and 1622. It depicts Proserpina being seized and taken to the underworld by Pluto ....
     (1621-1622) - Marble, height 295 cm, Galleria Borghese
    Galleria Borghese

    The Borghese Gallery in Rome is an art gallery housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana, a building that was from the first integral with its gardens, nowadays considered quite separately by tourists as the Villa Borghese gardens....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Fontana del Tritone (1624-1643) - Travertine, over life-size, Piazza Barberini
    Piazza Barberini

    Piazza Barberini is a large piazza in the city center on Quirinal Hill of Rome, Italy. It was created in the 16th century.The current name was given in 1625 after Palazzo Barberini which is located nearby....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Tomb of Pope Urban VIII (1627-1647) - Golden bronze and marble, figures larger than life-size, Basilica di San Pietro
    St. Peter's Basilica

    The Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian language as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City....
    , Vatican City
    Vatican City

    Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
  • Bust of Thomas Baker (1638) - Marble, height 81,6 cm, Victoria and Albert Museum
    Victoria and Albert Museum

    The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million Object ....
    , London
    London

    London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
  • Bust of Costanza Bonarelli (c. 1635) - Marble, height 70 cm, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence
    Florence

    Florence is the Capital city of the Italy Regions of Italy of Tuscany and of the provinces of Italy Province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany and has a population of 364,779 ....
  • Charity with Two Children (1634) - Terracotta, height 41.6 cm, Museo Sacro
    Vatican Museums

    The Vatican Museums , in Viale Vaticano in Rome, inside the Vatican City, are among the greatest museums in the world, since they display works from the immense collection built up by Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries....
    , Musei Vaticani, Vatican City
    Vatican City

    Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
  • Saint Longinus (1631-1638) - Marble, height 450 cm, Basilica di San Pietro
    St. Peter's Basilica

    The Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian language as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City....
    , Vatican City
    Vatican City

    Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
  • Bust of Scipione Borghese (1632) - Marble, height 78 cm, Galleria Borghese
    Galleria Borghese

    The Borghese Gallery in Rome is an art gallery housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana, a building that was from the first integral with its gardens, nowadays considered quite separately by tourists as the Villa Borghese gardens....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Bust of Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1632) - Marble, Basilica di San Pietro
    St. Peter's Basilica

    The Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian language as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City....
    , Vatican City
    Vatican City

    Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
  • Bust of Pope Urban VIII (1632-1633) - Bronze, height 100 cm, Museo Sacro, Musei Vaticani, Vatican City
    Vatican City

    Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
  • Bust of Cardinal Armand de Richelieu (1640-1641) - Marble, Musée du Louvre
    Louvre

    The Louvre Museum , located in Paris, is a historic monument, and a national museum of France. It is a central landmark, located on the Rive Droite of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement of Paris ....
    , Paris
    Paris

    Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
  • Memorial to Maria Raggi
    Santa Maria sopra Minerva

    Santa Maria sopra Minerva is a basilica churches of Rome Rome. The church, located in the Piazza della Minerva in the Campus Martius region, is considered the only Gothic architecture church in Rome, and is the city's principal Dominican Order church....
     (1643) - Gilt bronze and coloured marble, Santa Maria sopra Minerva
    Santa Maria sopra Minerva

    Santa Maria sopra Minerva is a basilica churches of Rome Rome. The church, located in the Piazza della Minerva in the Campus Martius region, is considered the only Gothic architecture church in Rome, and is the city's principal Dominican Order church....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Truth (1645-1652) - Marble, height 280 cm, Galleria Borghese
    Galleria Borghese

    The Borghese Gallery in Rome is an art gallery housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana, a building that was from the first integral with its gardens, nowadays considered quite separately by tourists as the Villa Borghese gardens....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Bust of Pope Leo X (1647) Palazzo Doria Pamphilij, Rome
  • Ecstasy of St Theresa
    Ecstasy of St Theresa

    The Ecstasy of St Theresa is the central marble group of a sculptural complex designed and completed by Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini for theCornaro Chapel of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome....
     (1647-1652) - Marble, Cappella Cornaro, Santa Maria della Vittoria
    Santa Maria della Vittoria

    Santa Maria della Vittoria is a small basilica churches of Rome Rome, on Via XX Settembre....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Loggia of the Founders
    Santa Maria della Vittoria

    Santa Maria della Vittoria is a small basilica churches of Rome Rome, on Via XX Settembre....
     (1647-1652) Marble, Cappella Cornaro, Santa Maria della Vittoria
    Santa Maria della Vittoria

    Santa Maria della Vittoria is a small basilica churches of Rome Rome, on Via XX Settembre....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Bust of Urban VIII - Marble, Basilica di San Pietro
    St. Peter's Basilica

    The Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian language as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City....
    , Vatican City
    Vatican City

    Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
  • Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi
    Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi

    The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or "Fountain of the Four Rivers" occupies the center of the large oval Piazza Navona in Rome. It is a masterpiece of Gianlorenzo Bernini, and emblematic of the dynamic and dramatic effects sought by high Baroque artists....
     (1648-1651) - Travertine and marble, Piazza Navona
    Piazza Navona

    Piazza Navona is a city square in Rome, Italy. It follows the plan of an ancient Ancient Rome Circus , the 1st century Stadium of Domitian, where the Romans came to watch the agones : It was known as 'Circus Agonalis' ....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Corpus (sculpture)
    Corpus (sculpture)

    A sculpture of the body of Christ by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Bernini sculpted it from bronze in 1650 and held onto it in his private collection for 25 years....
     (1650) - Bronze, Art Gallery of Ontario
    Art Gallery of Ontario

    The Art Gallery of Ontario is an art museum on the eastern edge of Toronto's downtown Chinatown, Toronto district, on Dundas Street between McCaul Street and Beverley Street....
    , Toronto
    Toronto

    Toronto is the List of the 100 largest municipalities in Canada by population in Canada and the Provinces and territories of Canada Provincial and territorial capitals of Canada of Ontario....
    , Canada
    Canada

    Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
    .
  • Daniel and the Lion (1650) - Marble, Santa Maria del Popolo
    Santa Maria del Popolo

    Santa Maria del Popolo is a notable Augustinian church located in Rome.It stands to the north side of the Piazza del Popolo, one of the most famous squares of the city, between the ancient Porta Flaminia and the Pincio park....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Francesco I d'Este (1650-1651) - Marble, height 107 cm, Galleria Estense, Modena
    Modena

    Modena is a city and a comune on the south side of the Padan Plain, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.An ancient town, it is the seat of an archbishop, but is now best known as "the capital of engines", since the factories of the famous Italian sports car makers Ferrari, De Tomaso, Lamborghini, Pagani and...
  • Fountain of the Moor (1653-1654) - Marble, Piazza Navona
    Piazza Navona

    Piazza Navona is a city square in Rome, Italy. It follows the plan of an ancient Ancient Rome Circus , the 1st century Stadium of Domitian, where the Romans came to watch the agones : It was known as 'Circus Agonalis' ....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Constantine (1654-1670) - Marble, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican City
    Vatican City

    Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
  • Daniel and the Lion (1655) - Terracotta, height 41.6 cm, Museo Sacro, Musei Vaticani, Vatican City
    Vatican City

    Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
  • Habakkuk and the Angel (1655) - Terracotta, height 52 cm, Museo Sacro, Musei Vaticani, Vatican City
    Vatican City

    Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
  • Altar Cross (1657-1661) - Gilt bronze corpus on bronze cross, height: corpus 43 cm, cross 185 cm, Treasury of San Pietro
    St. Peter's Basilica

    The Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian language as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City....
    , Vatican City
    Vatican City

    Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
  • Throne of Saint Peter (1657-1666) - Marble, bronze, white and golden stucco, Basilica di San Pietro
    St. Peter's Basilica

    The Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian language as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Statue of Saint Augustine (1657-1666) - Bronze, Basilica di San Pietro
    St. Peter's Basilica

    The Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian language as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City....
    , Vatican City
    Vatican City

    Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
  • Constantine (1663-1670) - Marble with painted stucco drapery, Scala Regia
    Scala Regia

    Scala Regia is the Italian translation for Royal Staircase. In the courtly world of pre-republican days, a number of majestic entrance staircases took the name Scala Regia, including:...
    , Vatican Palace, Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Standing Angel with Scroll (1667-1668) - Clay, terracotta, height: 29,2 cm, Fogg Art Museum
    Fogg Art Museum

    The Fogg Art Museum is the oldest of Harvard University's art museums. It covers the history of western art from the Middle Ages to the present....
    , Cambridge
    Cambridge

    The city status in the United Kingdom of Cambridge is a College town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about 50 miles north of London....
  • Angel with the Crown of Thorns
    Angel with the Crown of Thorns

    Angel with Crown of Thorns is a statue by Bernini commissioned by Pope Clement the IX. The statue was started in 1667 and completed in 1669....
     (1667-1669) - Marble, over life-size, Sant'Andrea delle Fratte
    Sant'Andrea delle Fratte

    Sant'Andrea delle Fratte is a 17th century basilica churches of Rome Rome, devoted to St. Andrew. The Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Andreae Apostoli de Hortis is Ennio Cardinal Antonelli....
    , Rome
  • Angel with the Superscription (1667-1669) - Marble, over life-size, Sant'Andrea delle Fratte
    Sant'Andrea delle Fratte

    Sant'Andrea delle Fratte is a 17th century basilica churches of Rome Rome, devoted to St. Andrew. The Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Andreae Apostoli de Hortis is Ennio Cardinal Antonelli....
    , Rome
  • Elephant of Minerva (1667-1669) - Marble, Piazza di Santa Maria sopra Minerva
    Santa Maria sopra Minerva

    Santa Maria sopra Minerva is a basilica churches of Rome Rome. The church, located in the Piazza della Minerva in the Campus Martius region, is considered the only Gothic architecture church in Rome, and is the city's principal Dominican Order church....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Bust of Gabriele Fonseca (1668-1675) - Marble, over life-size, San Lorenzo in Lucina
    San Lorenzo in Lucina

    San Lorenzo in Lucina is a churches of Rome Rome, dating back to the 4th century, and dedicated to Saint Lawrence, Roman deacon and martyr.The name Lucina comes from the Roman matron owner of the house on which the church was built....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Equestrian Statue of King Louis XIV (1669-1670) - Terracotta, height 76 cm, Galleria Borghese
    Galleria Borghese

    The Borghese Gallery in Rome is an art gallery housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana, a building that was from the first integral with its gardens, nowadays considered quite separately by tourists as the Villa Borghese gardens....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Bust of Louis XIV (1665) - Marble, height 80 cm, Musée National de Versailles, Versailles
    Versailles

    Versailles , formerly de facto capital of the kingdom of France, is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and is still an important administrative and judicial centre....
  • Herm of St. Stephen, King of Hungary - Bronze, Cathedral Treasury, Zagreb
    Zagreb

    Zagreb is the Capital and the largest city of Croatia. Zagreb is the Culture of Croatia, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Cinema of Croatia, Economy of Croatia and Government of Croatia center of the Croatia....
  • Saint Jerome (1661-1663) - Marble, height 180 cm, Cappella Chigi, Duomo
    Duomo di Siena

    The Cathedral of Siena , dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church and now to Santa Maria Assunta , is a medieval church in Siena, central Italy....
    , Siena
    Siena

    Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site....
     
  • Tomb of Pope Alexander VII (1671-1678) - Marble and gilded bronze, over life-size, Basilica di San Pietro
    St. Peter's Basilica

    The Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian language as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St. Peter's Basilica, is located within the Vatican City....
    , Vatican City
    Vatican City

    Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
  • Blessed Ludovica Albertoni
    Beata Ludovica Albertoni

    The monument to the Beata Ludovica Albertoni is a sculpture group by the baroque artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It was commissioned from Bernini by Cardinal Paluzzi degli Albertoni, who had taken the name Altieri after the elevation of a kinsman of his family by marriage, Pope Clement X ....
     (1671-1674) - Marble, Cappella Altieri-Albertoni, San Francesco a Ripa
    San Francesco a Ripa

    San Francesco a Ripa is a churches of Rome. It is dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi because the adjacent convent hosted his visit to Rome in 1229, while the term Ripa refers to the nearby river-edge of the Tiber....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....


Paintings

Bernini's activity as a painter
Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting....
 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
Pietro Bernini

Pietro Bernini was an Italy sculpture. He was the father of the more famous sculptor, Gian Lorenzo Bernini.Bernini was born in Sesto Fiorentino, Tuscany....
, 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
    National Gallery, London

    The National Gallery in London, founded in 1824, houses a rich collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900 in its home on Trafalgar Square....
    , London
    London

    London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
  • Portrait of a Boy (c. 1638) - Oil on canvas, Galleria Borghese
    Galleria Borghese

    The Borghese Gallery in Rome is an art gallery housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana, a building that was from the first integral with its gardens, nowadays considered quite separately by tourists as the Villa Borghese gardens....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Self-Portrait as a Young Man (c. 1623) - Oil on canvas, Galleria Borghese
    Galleria Borghese

    The Borghese Gallery in Rome is an art gallery housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana, a building that was from the first integral with its gardens, nowadays considered quite separately by tourists as the Villa Borghese gardens....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
  • Self-Portrait as a Mature Man (1630-1635) - Oil on canvas, Galleria Borghese
    Galleria Borghese

    The Borghese Gallery in Rome is an art gallery housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana, a building that was from the first integral with its gardens, nowadays considered quite separately by tourists as the Villa Borghese gardens....
    , Rome
    Rome

    Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....


See also

  • List of famous Italians
  • List of Italian painters
    List of Italian painters

    Famous Italy Paintings :*Francesco Albani *Mariotto Albertinelli *Fra Angelico *Pietro Annigoni *Antonello da Messina *Fra Bartolomeo *Gentile Bellini ...
  • List of painters
  • Saint Peter's Square
    Saint Peter's Square

    Saint Peter's Square is located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the pope enclave and exclave within Rome ....


External links

  • Simon Schama
    Simon Schama

    Simon Michael Schama, Order of the British Empire is a British professor of history and art history at Columbia University. His many works on history and art include Landscape and Memory, Dead Certainties, Rembrandt's Eyes, and his history of the French Revolution, Citizens ....
    's The Power of Art