Visual Resources | Gian Lorenzo Bernini, A Monograph | Department of Art History





		Homepage

		Preface A brief description of the teaching strategies buttressing the digital monograph

		Library A compendium of texts and links relating to the study of Gian Lorenzo Bernini

		Visual Resources Image portfolios organized in chronological, thematic, and/or media specific groupings



	Bernini spent almost his entire working career in Rome where he enjoyed a reputation and stature without parallel during his life time.
	Time Line
	1619	Bernini recieves his first commission from the important patron Cardinal Scipione Borghese.
	1623	Election of Maffeo Barberini as Pope Urban VIII, Bernini's principal patron until the Pope's death in 1644
	1637	Bernini begins work on bell toward for St. Peter's Basilica. The project is abandoned in 1641 as a result of structural instability, for which Bernini is blamed..
	1644	Election of Pope Innocent X; Bernini loses the favor of papal patronage
	1645	Bernini begins work on the Ecstacy of St. Teresa in S. Maria Vittoria, for the Cornaro family
	1655	Election of Pope Alexander VII; Bernini regains the favor of Papal commissions
	1665	Bernini travels to Paris to work on the completion of the Palais du Louvre for King Louis XIV
	1674	Bernini working for Pope Clement X, including the Death of the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni, an ancestor of the Pope.
	1680	Bernini dies at the age of 81

Select one of the porfolios below to view a collection of organized images.

Early Sculpture

Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, c. 1614-15, Contini-Bonacossi Collection, Florence
Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, c. 1615-16, Thyssen Bornemisza Collection, Lugano (Switzerland)
Aeneas, Anchises and Ascanius Fleeing Troy, 1619, Galleria Borghese, Rome
Bust of Pope Paul V, 1618, Galleria Borghese, Rome
"Anima Damnata", c. 1619, Palazzo di spagna, Rome
Neptune, from the Neptune Fountain in the Villa Montalto, c. 1620, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Monsignor Pedro de Foix Montoya, 1622, Monastery of S. Maria di Monserrato, Rome
David, 1623-24, Galleria Borghese, Rome
St. Bibiana, 1624-26, Church of St. Bibiana, RomeSt. Peters Basilica, Vatican City, Rome
Pluto and Persephone, 1621-22, Galleria Borghese, Rome
Apollo and Daphne, 1622-25, Galleria Borghese, Rome
Busts of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, 1632, Galleria Borghese, Rome
Bust of Costanza Buonarelli, c. 1635, Bargello, Florence
Bust of Thomas Baker, c. 1638, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Bernini and the Decoration of New St. Peter's Basilica, Rome

The Baldacchino, 1624-33, St. Peters Basilica, Vatican City, Rome
St. Longinus, 1629-38, St. Peters Basilica, Vatican City, Rome
Equestrian Monument of Constantine, 1654-68, Portico, St. Peters Basilica, Vatican City, Rome
Cathedra of St. Peter, 1656-66, St. Peters Basilica, Vatican City, Rome
Tomb of Pope Urban VIII, 1628-47, St. Peters Basilica, Vatican City, Rome
Tomb of Pope Alexander VII, 1671-78, St. Peters Basilica, Vatican City, Rome

Bernini and the Architecture of New St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Palace, Rome

The Piazza of St. Peter's, begun 1656
Scala Regia, 1663-66

The Ecstacy of St. Teresa in the Cornaro Chapel, 1645-52, S. Maria della Vittoria, Rome

Fountains in Rome and Environs

Neptune, from the Neptune Fountain in the Villa Montalto, c. 1620, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Triton Fountain, 1642-43, Piazza Barberini, Rome
Four Rivers Fountain, 1648-51, Piazza Navona, Rome

Sculpture in the 1640's, 1650's, 1660's, 1670's

Truth Univeiled, 1646-52, Galleria Borghese, Rome
Bust of Francesco I d'Este, Duke of Modena, 1650-51, Estense Gallery, Modena
Prophet Habakuk and the Angel, 1655-61, Chigi Chapel, S. Maria del Popolo, Rome
Daniel in the Lion's Den, 1655-61, Chigi Chapel, S. Maria del Popolo, Rome
St. Mary Magdalen, 1661-63, Chigi Chapel, Cathedral, Siena
St. Jerome, 1661-63, Chigi Chapel, Cathedral, Siena
Angel with the Crown of Thorns, Angel with the Superscriptio, 1668-69, S. Andrea della Fratte, Rome
Death of the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni, 1674, Altieri Chapel, S. Francesco a Ripa, Rome

Architectural Projects

Rome, S. Bibiana, 1624-26
Castelgandolfo, San Tommaso di Villanova, 1658-61
Rome, Palazzo di Montecitorio, begun 1650
Rome, San Andrea al Quirinale, 1658-70
Arricia, S. Maria dell'Assunzione, 1662-64
Rome, Palazzo Chigi-Odelscalchi, begun 1664

Bernini in France

Designs for the Louvre, 1664
Bust of King Louis XIV, 1665, Versailles

A Selection of Drawings