Book Description

The most versatile sculptor-architect of all time, Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) left his indelible stamp of genius on the churches, fountains, and piazzas of Rome. In marble, paint, bronze, stucco, and gilt, through glass and shimmering water and channeled light, he transformed the Eternal City with his unique vision and verve. His strikingly novel introduction of dramatically charged space into traditional forms-tombs, altars, portraits, and freestanding figures-altered forever the nature of sculpture, its relation to painting and architecture, and, above all, its psychological interaction with the viewer. Bernini brought to his work a sensual vitality and sheer virtuosity unprecedented in sculpture. But it is his magical, often mystical unification of the arts that epitomizes Bernini as the Baroque artist par excellence. Accompanied by 71 illustrations, Scribner's engaging biography reveals much behind the facades of 17th-century Rome. Over his career of seventy years, serving eight popes, Bernini dominated both his century and his city. His princely patrons included France's 'Sun King', Louis XIV, who summoned him to Paris to design the Louvre. The 42 color plates, each with extensive commentary, cover the entire spectrum of Bernini's masterpieces and confirm his role as the impresario of the Baroque Age.