Gian LorenzoBernini was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his age, credited with creating the Baroque style of sculpture. As one scholar has commented, "What Shakespeare is to drama, Bernini may be to sculpture: the first pan-European sculptor whose name is instantaneously identifiable with a particular manner and vision, and whose influence was inordinately powerful ..." In addition, he was a painter and a man of the theater: he wrote, directed and acted in plays, for which he designed stage sets and theatrical machinery. He produced designs as well for a wide variety of decorative art objects including lamps, tables, mirrors, and even coaches.
Blessed Ludovica Albertoni is a funerary monument by the Italian Baroque artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The Trastevere sculpture is located in the specially designed Altieri Chapel in the Church of San Francesco a Ripa in Rome, Italy. Bernini started the project in 1671, but his work on two other major works—The Tomb of Pope Alexander VII and the Altar of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Peter's Basilica—delayed his work on the funerary monument. Bernini completed the sculpture in 1674; it was installed by 31 August 1674.
The Goat Amalthea with the Infant Jupiter and a Faun is the earliest known work by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Produced sometime between 1609 and 1615, the sculpture is now in the Borghese Collection at the Galleria Borghese in Rome.
Truth Unveiled by Time is a marble sculpture by Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Executed between 1645 and 1652, Bernini intended to show Truth allegorically as a naked young woman being unveiled by a figure of Time above her, but the figure of Time was never executed. Bernini still expressed a wish to add the figure as late as 1665.
Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence is an early sculpture by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It depicts the saint at the moment of his martyrdom, being burnt alive on a gridiron. According to Bernini's biographer, Filippo Baldinucci, the sculpture was completed when Bernini was 15 years old, implying it was finished in the year 1614. Other historians have dated the sculpture between 1615 and 1618. A date of 1617 seems most likely. It is less than life-size in dimensions, measuring 108 by 66 cm.
Memorial to Maria Raggi is a sculptural monument designed and executed by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini, started in 1647 and finished in 1653. The monument is attached to a pillar in a nave of the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome.
The Bust of Giovanni Battisti Santoni is a sculptural portrait by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Believed to be one of the artist's earliest works, the bust forms part of a tomb for Santoni, who was majordomo to Pope Sixtus V from 1590 to 1592. The work was executed sometime between 1613 and 1616, although some have dated the work as early as 1609, including Filippo Baldinucci. The work remains in its original setting in the church of Santa Prassede in Rome.
Saint Sebastian is an early sculpture by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Executed in 1617 and 1618, it features the Christian martyr Saint Sebastian pinned to a tree, his flesh filled with arrows. It is smaller than life size. The sculpture is part of the Carmen Cervera's private collection and is currently shown in the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid.
The Bust of Cardinal Escoubleau de Sourdis is a marble portrait sculpture by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Executed in 1622, the work depicts François de Sourdis. It is currently in the Musée d'Aquitaine in Bordeaux, France.
Bust of Giovanni Vigevano is a marble sculptural portrait by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The bust was produced between 1617 and 1618, and was then inserted into the tomb for Vigevano after he died in 1630. The tomb is in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome.
Damned Soul is a marble sculpture bust by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini as a pendant piece to his Blessed Soul. According to Rudolf Wittkower, the sculpture is in the Palazzo di Spagna in Rome. This may well be what is known today as the Palazzo Monaldeschi.
The Bust of Gabriele Fonseca is a sculptural portrait by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Executed sometime between 1668 and 1674, the work is located in San Lorenzo in Lucina in Rome, Italy. Gabriele Fonseca was the doctor to Pope Innocent X.
The Busts of Pope Innocent X are two portrait busts by the Italian artist Gianlorenzo Bernini of Pope Innocent X, Giovanni Battista Pamphili. Created around 1650, both sculptures are now in the Galleria Doria Pamphili in Rome. Like the two busts of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, it is believed that Bernini created a second version of the bust once a flaw was discovered in the first version. There exist several similar versions of the bust done by other artists, most notably Alessandro Algardi.
The Busts of Cardinals Agostino and Pietro Valier are two portrait sculptures executed by the Italian artists Gianlorenzo Bernini and his studio. They were commissioned in 1627. It is likely that the bust of Pietro was done largely by Andrea Bolgi following Bernini's design. The more lively portrait of Agostino is probably Bernini's design and execution.
The Memorial to Carlo Barberini is a large memorial, featuring two allegorical statues and an inscription. It was designed by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini upon the death of Carlo in 1630, and subsequently executed by Bernini and his workshop. It is in the church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli in Rome.
The Statue of Carlo Barberini was a large statue of the brother of Pope Urban VIII, Carlo Barberini, erected in the Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome, following his death in 1630. The statue made use of an existing antique statue of Julius Caesar. The Roman authorities then commissioned the two most renowned sculptures of the day, Gianlorenzo Bernini and Alessandro Algardi, to add to the torso; Bernini worked on the head and Algardi on the limbs.
The Tomb of Countess Matilda of Tuscany is a large sculptural memorial designed by the Italian artist Gianlorenzo Bernini and executed by Bernini and various other sculptors. It was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII in 1633 and was destined for St. Peter's, Rome, where it still sits now. The final parts were completed in 1644.
Pasce Oves Meas is a sculptural relief designed by the Italian artist Gianlorenzo Bernini and executed by members of his workshop, with some involvement of Bernini himself. The work was commissioned in 1633 but was not installed in its destination of St Peter's, Rome until 1646.
The busts of Paolo Giordano and Isabella Orsini are two sculptural portraits of the Duke of Bracciano and his wife Isabella Orsini. They were carried out by the Italian artist Gianlorenzo Bernini and members of his studio. Executed around 1635, the two sculptures remain in the Castello Orsini-Odescalchi in Bracciano, Italy.
The Raimondi Chapel is a chapel within the church of San Pietro in Montorio, Rome, Italy. The chapel houses the tombs of two members of the Raimondi family, Francesco and Raimondo. Both the architectural and sculptural elements of the chapel were designed by the artist Gianlorenzo Bernini - it was one of Bernini's first works where the relationship between the sculpture and the architecture was considered as a whole. Elements of the sculptures were executed by other artists in Bernini's circle; Andrea Bolgi did the busts of the two Raimondi brothers and the accompanying putti. Niccolò Sale undertook the reliefs on the tombs, while Francesco Baratta did the larger relief in the central altar. Work on the chapel took place between 1638 and 1648.
