Architect and sculptor · Italy · 1598-1680
Gian Lorenzo Bernini Biography, Buildings and Best Books
Italian sculptor and architect (1598-1680) who shaped Baroque Rome, from the Baldacchino and St. Peter’s Square to Sant’Andrea al Quirinale and the Fountain of the Four Rivers.
Image: Gian Lorenzo Bernini, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Biography
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) was an Italian sculptor, architect, painter and stage designer, and the dominant artist of Baroque Rome. Working for a succession of popes, he created the bronze Baldacchino and the colonnaded square of St. Peter’s, the church of Sant’Andrea al Quirinale, the Scala Regia in the Vatican and fountains such as the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona, uniting architecture, sculpture and light into theatrical wholes.
Naples and Rome
Bernini was born in Naples in 1598, the son of the Florentine sculptor Pietro Bernini, and moved with his family to Rome around 1606. A child prodigy, he attracted the patronage of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, for whom he carved the marble groups Apollo and Daphne and The Rape of Proserpina while still in his twenties.
St. Peter’s and the Baldacchino
When his patron Maffeo Barberini became Pope Urban VIII in 1623, Bernini was put in charge of the decoration of St. Peter’s Basilica. His bronze Baldacchino over the high altar (1623-1634), with its twisted columns, and later the Cathedra Petri in the apse turned the interior into a stage for the liturgy. In 1629 he became architect of St. Peter’s.
Piazza Navona and the Cornaro Chapel
Under Pope Innocent X he created the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona (1651) and the Cornaro Chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria, with The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1652), where architecture, sculpture and hidden light combine. His rivalry with Francesco Borromini shaped the architecture of Baroque Rome.
St. Peter’s Square and Sant’Andrea
For Pope Alexander VII Bernini designed St. Peter’s Square (1656-1667), whose two great colonnades embrace the faithful “like the motherly arms of the Church”, the Scala Regia (1663-1666) and the church of Sant’Andrea al Quirinale (1658-1670), an oval of coloured marble that he considered his finest building. In 1665 he travelled to Paris to design the Louvre for Louis XIV, though his plans were not built. He died in Rome in 1680.
Bernini
Howard Hibbard’s concise classic covers Bernini’s sculpture and architecture together, explaining how he transformed Baroque Rome.
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Timeline
- 1598Born on 7 December in Naples.
- 1606Moves to Rome with his family (around this date).
- 1622Completes The Rape of Proserpina for Cardinal Scipione Borghese.
- 1623Begins the Baldacchino in St. Peter’s.
- 1629Becomes architect of St. Peter’s.
- 1634Completes the Baldacchino.
- 1651Completes the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona.
- 1652Completes the Cornaro Chapel with The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa.
- 1656Begins St. Peter’s Square.
- 1665Travels to Paris to design the Louvre.
- 1670Completes Sant’Andrea al Quirinale.
- 1680Dies on 28 November in Rome.
Best Books on Gian Lorenzo Bernini
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Gian Lorenzo Bernini known for?
Gian Lorenzo Bernini is known as the leading artist of Baroque Rome, both as a sculptor and as the architect of St. Peter’s Square, the Baldacchino, the Scala Regia and the church of Sant’Andrea al Quirinale.
What are Bernini’s most famous architectural works?
His best-known architecture includes St. Peter’s Square and its colonnades, the Baldacchino and Cathedra Petri in St. Peter’s, the Scala Regia, Sant’Andrea al Quirinale, the Cornaro Chapel and the Fountain of the Four Rivers.
What is the best book on Bernini’s architecture?
Howard Hibbard’s Bernini (Penguin) is a classic introduction to his whole career. Tod Marder’s Bernini and the Art of Architecture is the most thorough study of his buildings.
What is Bernini’s architectural style?
Bernini’s style is Roman Baroque: dynamic, theatrical spaces that combine architecture, sculpture, coloured marble and concealed light to move and persuade the viewer.
Where can I see Bernini’s architecture?
In Rome you can visit St. Peter’s Square and Basilica, Sant’Andrea al Quirinale, the Cornaro Chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria and the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona.
