Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Who was Gian Lorenzo Bernini?
Italian sculptor and architect (1598–1680)
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Gian Lorenzo Bernini (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Gian Lorenzo Bernini was born on December 7, 1598, in Naples. His father, Pietro Bernini, was a recognized Florentine sculptor, and his mother was Angelica Galante from Naples. Bernini passed away on November 28, 1680, in Rome at the Palazzi Bernini. He left behind a legacy that changed art in Rome and Europe. He was married to Caterina Tezio and had eleven children. Bernini stayed busy with his work into his eighties, continuing to create sculptures and design buildings almost to the end of his life.
Before Fame
Bernini was incredibly talented in art from a young age, with his father Pietro supporting his development. The family moved to Rome around 1606 for projects commissioned by Pope Paul V. Young Gian Lorenzo had access to the Vatican's papal collections and ancient sculptures, such as the Laocoön and Belvedere Torso, which he studied intensely. Cardinal Scipione Borghese became one of his earliest and biggest supporters, commissioning a series of mythological marble sculptures that showcased Bernini's remarkable talent. By his mid-twenties, he had already created works of impressive technical and expressive complexity, establishing his reputation as the leading sculptor in Rome.
Key Achievements
- Designed and supervised the construction of the colonnaded Saint Peter's Square, one of the most celebrated public spaces in Western architecture
- Created the bronze baldachin over the high altar of Saint Peter's Basilica, a defining monument of Baroque interior design
- Sculpted the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, widely regarded as one of the supreme achievements of Western sculpture
- Designed Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, considered among the finest small churches in Rome and a masterpiece of Baroque ecclesiastical architecture
- Contributed to the design of Palazzo Barberini and produced the celebrated Bust of Costanza Bonarelli, among the most psychologically vivid portrait sculptures of the seventeenth century
Did You Know?
- 01.Bernini had a passionate and scandalous affair with Costanza Bonarelli, wife of one of his own assistants, and in a jealous rage ordered a servant to slash her face; he escaped serious legal punishment largely due to papal intervention.
- 02.He traveled to Paris in 1665 at the invitation of Louis XIV to present designs for the renovation of the Louvre, but his grandiose Baroque proposals were ultimately rejected in favor of a more classicizing French design.
- 03.Bernini not only sculpted and designed buildings but also wrote and directed theatrical productions, designing elaborate stage machinery and sets for Carnival entertainments in Rome.
- 04.He completed the colossal baldachin inside Saint Peter's Basilica using bronze stripped from the ancient Pantheon portico, a act that prompted the famous Roman satirical quip attributed to Pasquino: 'What the barbarians did not do, the Barberini did.'
- 05.Bernini suffered a partial paralysis late in life but reportedly continued working on sculpture with the use of his non-dominant hand in his final years.