Lecture 31: Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Gian Lorenzo Bernini ......................................................................

Lecture 31

Gian Lorenzo Bernini was born in 1598 in Naples, where his father

Pietro, also a sculptor, had moved from Florence to ¿ nd work. Pietro

was his son’s teacher in the techniques of sculpture but, as has sometimes

happened with the sons of other artists (Picasso comes to mind), the son

quickly outpaced the father.

I

n this lecture, we will look at Bernini, the single greatest artist in Rome

during the Baroque period. Bernini was a painter, architect, and above all,

a sculptor. We will focus on his sculpture, including his virtuosic Apollo

and Daphne, and marvel at his sweeping piazza in front of the Basilica of St.

Peter’s in Rome. We will explore a half dozen of his works to try to grasp the

depth and breadth of his abilities.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) was born in Naples, where his father,

Pietro, had moved from Florence seeking work. Pietro taught his son

sculptural techniques, but the son quickly outpaced the father. The innate

talent of Bernini has never been surpassed by any sculptor whose work

survives in suf¿ cient numbers to properly judge it. Among Italian artists,

Bernini is the universal genius of the 17th century—its greatest sculptor, one

of its premier architects, and a gifted painter who put that medium aside

in favor of sculpture. In 1605 or 1606, Pietro Bernini returned to Rome,

probably to work on a sculptural project for Pope Paul V of the Borghese

family. Gian Lorenzo grew up and began his career in Rome at a moment of

intense artistic activity under Paul V.

The Galleria Borghese is the former Villa Borghese, the 17th-century home of

Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the most signi¿ cant patron of the young Bernini

and of the early Italian Baroque. One important commission Bernini had

from Scipione Borghese was Pluto and Proserpine (in Greek, Persephone)

(c. 1621–1622). The front view shows Pluto abducting Proserpine, daughter

of Ceres, goddess of cultivation, to carry her off to the underworld. In the

diagonal view, note the carving of the hand pressing into the À esh. The

serpentine pose of the ¿ gures was borrowed from the Flemish-born 16th-