Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680)
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Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) did more than any individual to create the appearance of Rome as it exists today. As the leading sculptor and architect of the Baroque era, Bernini's talents and tastes meshed perfectly with the Church's demand for an increased magnificence and intensity in religious art. The Catholic Counter-Reformation called for an image of the Church as a triumphant force, undiminished by the heretical efforts of the Protestant reformers. Throughout the city of Rome, the power of Bernini's papal patrons was reflected in the sumptuous fountains, tombs, and religious sculpture he supplied. At St. Peter's, the very heart of Catholicism, Bernini transformed the church (both inside and out) with designs whose magnificent theatricality was matched by a fervent intensity. Three major examples of Bernini's work demonstrate the nature of his enormous undertaking. The famous Four Rivers Fountain (1648-1651) (Scribner 95) in the Piazza Navona shows Bernini's ability to transform public spaces. The paired monuments at St. Peter's, the Baldacchino (1624-1633) (Scribner 71) and the Cathedra Petri (1657-1666) (Scribner 101), demonstrate Bernini's great flair for placing drama and unorthodox compositions at the service of religious experience. From his earliest training Bernini was strongly identified with the city. He was the son of a sculptor, Pietro, who moved his family to Rome when Paul V commissioned an important work from him. As Bernini's contemporary b
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interest in drama, movement and feeling. Baroque art featured "an emphasis on pictorial and emotive qualities, on illusionism and movement of figures and draperies which conceals rather than defines bodies, but is used as an aid to expression" (Godfrey 287). This contrasts with classicism's "greater stress on definition, order, stability, on structural form and emotional restraint" (Godfrey 287).
By looking at figures in movement and attempting to delve into the psychology of the individuals he portrayed, Bernini was charting new territory. Like predecessors such as Michelangelo, Bernini learned all he could about the "natural conditions and bec[a]me their master" (Kauffmann 110). But, having acquired this "empirical understanding," Bernini was then interested in incorporating it into "a new context of his own invention" -- one that would serve the needs of his papal patrons (Kauffmann 110). At the Piazza Navona Bernini's task was to provide a commentary on the universal reach of the Church. At St. Peter's it was the popes' spiritual authority that was to be impressed on viewers.
The Four Rivers Fountain (1648-1651) was to serve as a base for an ancient Egyptian obelisk. The inscriptions on obelisks were believed to re
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1758
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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