Nefi Navarro
Intro to Drawing
Artist Report
Bernini, Gian Lorenzo
Born in Naples in 1598, to his father Pietro Bernini, a well know Mannerist sculptor from
Florence, and his mother Angelica Galante, a Neapolitan housewife. His father was involved in many
high profile commissions in Rome, which he would also frequently ask his son to join, where Bernini got
his experience and expertise. Through his frequent visits in his father’s projects, Bernini soon acquired
intense liking and skill to sculpting, which eventually caught the attention of a painter named Annibale
Carracci and by Pope Paul V. Bernini an Italian architect and sculptor Giovanni Bernini is widely
considered the creator of the Baroque style of sculpture, where the style of sculpture had been
developed to such an extent that other artists are of only minor importance in a discussion of that style.
Bernini served eight different popes in his life time and contributed to a number of landmarks in Rome,
including St. Peter’s Basilica and the Fountain of the Four Rivers. During the early years, many sculptors
and artist sought to surpass the late talented Michelangelo, but one artist named Gian Lorenzo Bernini
was the ultimate successor of Michelangelo plus Bernini looked up to Michel with both having superior
sculpting abilities. Bernini who perhaps may have been the greatest Sculptor of the 17th centaury and a
talented architect as well, Bernini’s works of art highlighted the essence of classical sculpture and
religious beliefs, and he managed to do that with his uncanny ability to mold marble with striking
natural realism that does not fail to express its narrative implications. Bernini, when he sculpted put his
emotions and the emotions he thought where appropriate for the sculpture. Bernini received much
criticism from the neoclassical community of Baroque art, but even today, he has remained as one of
the leading icons in the field of Roman Baroque architecture. 1Not much was publically known about the
life of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, but most of the information is mentioned in the biography tilted ‘’Vita Del
Cavalier Gio Lorenzo Bernino’’ written by Domenico, Bernini’s youngest son, released in 1713. Because
of his newfound affiliations, he soon gained the patronage of Cardinal Scorpion Borghese, the papal
nephew, which helped him become one of the most prominent sculptors of his time. Under his
patronage, Bernini sculpted classics such as The Goat Amalthea with the Infant Zeus and a Faun, the
Blesses Soul, and the Damned Soul. At the age of only 22 years old, he accomplished the bust of Pope
Paul V, and he even made huge contributions in Scipione’s collection at the Borghese gallery with a long
streak of masterpieces. In 1621 to 1622, Bernini completed the Rape of Proserpine, which bears the
style of the rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna. The sculpture makes use of the twisted
contrapposto pose evident in Mannerism, which involves the abduction of Proserpina by Pluto as he
tried to take her into the underworld to make her his eternal bride. Probably the most evident
technique in this sculpture is the dramatic effect created as Proserpina’s hand creases Pluto’s face, while
Pluto’s fingers sink into the face of Proserpina’s body. Bernini even carefully crafted in marble the tears
of Proserpina as it went down her cheek and her slightly parted lips as she screamed for help. His next
work was created in 1622 up to 1625, which was named as Apollo and Daphne. It was considered as one
of the most dramatic representations in their time due to the equally dramatic narrative of this instant
in Metamorphoses, work of Ovid. The story traces its roots back to when Apollo, who was the God of
light in Greek Mythology, told of Eros for playing with weapons for adults. Eros fought back by striking
Apollo with a golden arrow, causing him to madly fall in love with a water nymph that swore eternal
virginity named Daphne, and by striking Daphne with a lead arrow to counter every attempt by Apollo to
woo her or get her to like him. The interpretation by Bernini portrays the transformation and drama of
Daphne as she goes through the different stages of her changes with the incorporation of the
chiaroscuro technique to further give the sculptor a narrative feel and a Hellenistic approach. The next
famous masterpiece of Bernini was David, from the Bible known as the great battle between David vs.
Goliath, which was created from 1623 to 1624. The sculptor features the young man named David as he
is about to throw the stone that would cause the downfall of Goliath, allowing him to behead the giant.
The narrative seemed simple, but it actually became one of the most defining highlights of Bernini’s
work because of the immense detail present, notably the anger of David. Bernini depicts David in
motion, in contrast to the famous statue of David by Michelangelo in which the character is preparing
for action. The twisted torso and furrowed brow of Bernini’s David is of the baroque’s interest in
dynamic movement over high renaissance stasis. Michelangelo expresses his David’s whole heroic
nature. Bernini captures the heroic moment. The white marble sculpture, which brought Bernini his first
fame, was commissioned from the twenty- five year old Bernini by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, his great
patron. Bernini gave huge attention to portray David’s anger by molding his face to make it look like he
is frowning and biting his lower lip. With many works like the Elephant and Obelisk, the portrait of
Costanza Bonarelli, and many more, he further established his prestige as a virtuoso. Bernini’s first
architectural project was the magnificent bronze Baldachin, 1624 to 1633. The canopy over the high
altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, and the façade for the church of Santa Bibiana 1624 to 1626, Rome. In 1629,
before the Baldacchino was complete, Urban VIII put Bernini in charge of all the Basilica’s tombs of pope
Urban VIII 1628 to 1647 and, years later, pope Alexander VII Chigi 1671 to 1678. The chair of Saint Peter
Cathedra Petri 1657 to 1666, in the apses of St. Peter’s, is one of Bernini’s masterpieces of architecture
and sculpture among his other best known sculptures, the ecstasy of St. Teresa 1645 to 1652, in the
Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria Della Vittoria, Rome, and the earlier commissions of Apollo and Daphne,
and the David at the Borghese Gallery. Bernini’s architecture is as famous as his sculpture’s, besides his
most famous work, the Piazza and Colonnades of St. Peter’s he planned several famous palaces, Palazzo
Barberini from 1630, Palazzo Ludovisi which now is Palazzo Montecitorio, 1650, and Palazzo Chigi, 1664,
all are found in Rome. In 1665, at the height of his fame and power, he made a voyage to Paris to
present Louis XIV with designs which were rejected for the east front of the Louvre; it was executed in
more taste by Claude Perrault who liked Bernini’s designs. With all of Bernini’s sculptures and
architecture designs he designed some famous churches. One of the small baroque churches in Rome
presents an ensemble of Bernini’s work. Bernini was responsible not only for the architecture of St.
Andrea al Quirinale, but also the enormous statue of St. Andrew the Apostle over the high altar. In papal
villages near Rome, Bernini designed churches for Castel Gandolfo and in Ariccia. Bernini also sculpted
for fountains. The first of Bernini’s fountains was the Fountain of the Triton, 1640. His most famous
fountain, the spectacular Fountain of the Four Rivers, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, 1648 to 1651, in the
Piazza Navona, Rome, is also a source of anecdotes about his rivalry with Francesco Borromini who’s St.
Agnese in Agony church faces the fountain. One of Bernini’s river Gods, it was said, cowers in terror at
the Unsteady Looking façade of St. Agnese. The death of Bernini’s constant patron Urban VIII in 1644
released a horde of Bernini’s rivals and marked a change in his career, but innocent he was sent back to
work on the extended nave, overall Bernini was the publics taste in Rome. Bernini being an architect in
1629 he was appointed architect of St. Peter’s. Bernini designed the ornate Baldachin under the dome,
of the Cathedra Petri the monument enshrining St. Peters chair. Bernini created the Scala Regia and the
heroic equestrian statue of Constantine, 1654 to 1670. Bernini was assisted by a host of sculptors in
these vast enterprises. Between 1658 to 1670 Bernini designed three churches, which were, San Tomaso
di Villanova at Castel Gandalf, Santa Maria Della Assunzione at Ariccia, and St. Andrea al Quirinale in
Rome. He established a new mode, dynamically linking sculpture and architecture. In 1665, Louis XIV
invited Bernini to Paris to finish designing the Louvre, but Bernini’s plans failed to win approval.
Returning to Italy, he continued to work on St. Peter’s. Much of Bernini’s Sculpture’s and Architecture’s
where combined with white and colored marbles with bronze and Stucco, most effectively used in Santa
Maria Della Vittoria, in Rome, where he represented the Ecstasy of St. Teresa. Often inspired by classical
forms, Bernini transformed the marble block into a vital, almost breathing figure. A self portrait drawn in
1665, an example of his superb draftsmanship, Bernini was know as a wit, he wrote many comedies and
made numerous caricatures in his spare time. He produced several plays, all of which contained
effective illusions. All of his important works are in Rome, with the exception of the Neptune and Triton,
Victoria and Albert Mus, and the bust of Louis XIV Versailles. In Bernini’s later years he, the growing
desire to control the environments of his statuary led Bernini to concentrate more and more on
architecture. Bernini worked, and contributed to many churches, architectural work, of the churches he
designed after completing the Cornaro Chapel, the most impressive architectural work Bernini did was
that of St. Andrea al Quirinale, 1658 to 1670. Found in Rome where it has many awesome features like
its high altar, soaring dome, and its sited plan. But as I mentioned already Bernini’s greatest
architectural achievement is the Colonnade enclosing the Piazza after St. Peter’s Basilica. The main
purpose of the large space was to hold the crowd that gathered for the Papal benediction on Easter and
other special occasions. In Bernini’s work on the church he planned a huge oval attachment to the
church by trapezoidal forecourts which were forms he compared to the encircling arms of the mother
church. The free standing colonnades were a novel solution to the need for a penetrable enclosure. The
Piazza guides the visitors toward the church and counterbalances the overly wide façade of St. Peters.
Bernini’s oval encloses a space centered on the Vatican obelisk, which had been moved before the
church by Sixtus V in 1586. Bernini moved an older fountain by Maderno into the long axis of the Piazza
and he had built a twin architectural land mark to make scenographic whole. The analogies to Bernini’s
oval plans on St. Andrea al Quirinale are fascinating, as are the meaning and functions that Bernini put
into his sculptural and architectural work. However, it was his sculpting techniques and accuracy that
made him one of the most influential and talented artists of all time. In 1680, Gian Lorenzo Bernini died
in Rome and was buried in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. But his legacy still lives on and his work
is admired by many and he has followers I beat that are influenced by his work and try to make their
work like his. Rome is a beautiful country where there’s sculpture and architectures that art very
impressive done by famous artist like Bernini.
As I have been working on this paper and done the presentation on Bernini, I have learned a lot
about this artist and other artist that resemble his work and how they came to be so famous, as well as
Bernini himself. I found to be impressed with many of Bernini’s art works. Gian Lorenzo Bernini, as I
found to be the greatest Baroque sculptor, were he had a lasting impact on the city of Rome through
vast projects as St. Peter’s church tomb complexes for example, also the fountains found all around
Rome and sculptures of angels that are lines in a bridge across the Tiber River. What I didn’t know was
that Bernini to create the life size or big colossal works all over Rome, his imagination first found
expression in small clay art models or sketches he did on paper. In Bernini’s art whether it’s with his
sculptures or his architectures, Bernini used many techniques that helped influence and brig his art on
the capturing side of the viewer that saw any of his work. For example in Bernini’s sculptural work
Bernini used contour and life style anatomical features that helped make his sculptures appear life size
like his David, which he and Michelangelo both appeared to do, though neither of them did the same,
both David’s having different characteristics attached to each other. Bernini seemed to capture the
feelings, emotions, that his sculptures where appearing to feel themselves like the Rape of Proserpine
and Apollo, and how Bernini captures her feeling of being taken having all the characteristics needed so
the viewer know and maybe feel what she feels or any other art work. Therefore I found Bernini to be a
good artists with many skill and abilities where it made him famous and how he came to be so famous
from the beginning and all he went through to get where he was at, now I know why he was called the
greatest artist of Baroque style, and sculpture master in the 17th century.