BERNINI, GIANLORENZO.   Term Paper ID:23680 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Life & career of 17th Cent. Italian sculptor/architect. Training, style, major works, influences, religious themes.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Life & career of 17th Cent. Italian sculptor/architect. Training, style, major works, influences, religious themes. Paper Introduction: 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 Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Peter's began in 1624 with the creation of theBaldacchino erected over the high altar and St. But, having acquired this "empirical understanding," Bernini wasthen interested in incorporating it into "a new context of his owninvention" -- one that would serve the needs of his papal patrons(Kauffmann 11 ). Bernini did occasionally take a conventional approach to sculpture.The Tomb of Matilda of Tuscany (1633-1637) (Hibbard 1 ) at St. The coldness and lack of individuality in the Matilda (an eleventh-century ruler) may, therefore, be largely due to the absence of the subjectherself. "Bernini's St. Bernini himself "was aprofoundly devout Catholic, strongly influenced by Jesuit teaching" whichencouraged the actual visualization of the heavenly beings to whom thepeople prayed (Hibbard 137). New York: Abrams, 1991.Wittkower, Rudolf. As Hibbard notes, Bernini wasattracted to the "expressive, powerful works of late antiquity" largelybecause he saw them through the eyes of the Mannerist painters (25).Unlike Renaissance artists who looked more directly to the more ancientpast, "unclassic antiquity and Renaissance classicism were [Bernini's]models" (Hibbard 25). Gian Lorenzo Bernini: The Sculptor of the Roman Baroque. Italian Sculpture 125 - 17 . As Bernini'scontemporary biographer noted, this was a fortunate move for a child whowas to become a remarkable prodigy. Longinus." Bernini in Perspective. According to Baldinucci,from the age of seven Bernini spent three full years doing nothing butdrawing there (9). Baroque Art in Rome. From his earliest training Bernini was strongly identified with thecity. It is not surprising to learn that Bernini preferred to observe hissubjects in motion, since his works are alive with movement in a way thatwas new at the time. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP; New York: Phaidon, 1981. Peter's, the Baldacchino (1624-1633) (Scribner 71) and the Cathedra Petri (1657-1666) (Scribner 1 1),demonstrate Bernini's great flair for placing drama and unorthodoxcompositions at the service of religious experience. WORKS CITEDBaldinucci, Filippo. A mass of bronze rays, clouds, andangels surrounds the window and descends into the church, forming abackdrop for the reliquary. Like predecessors such as Michelangelo, Bernini learned all hecould about the "natural conditions and bec[a]me their master" (Kauffmann11 ). Bernini'ssolution was to replace the old marble columns with twisted, partiallygilded, black bronze columns of enormous height. M. George C. 1965. Thechair, like the obelisk at the Piazza Navona, seems to defy gravity. He copied the popes' enormous collection of antiquestatuary (mainly the later, Hellenistic, works) as well as the HighRenaissance painting of Raphael, Giulio Romano and Michelangelo. Baroque art featured "an emphasis on pictorial and emotivequalities, on illusionism and movement of figures and draperies whichconceals rather than defines bodies, but is used as an aid to expression"(Godfrey 287). Bernini's shrineshowed the four Fathers of the Western Church, enormous statues of gildedbronze, with the immense chair-shaped reliquary resting lightly on theirfingertips. As Godfrey points out, the difference between the Baroque andclassicism is centered largely on a new interest in drama, movement andfeeling. Bernini had fused "architecture and sculpture in a unique way" andproduced a combination of the solemn and permanent with the festive andephemeral (Scribner 7 ). The inscriptions on obelisks were believed torefer to ancient pagan wisdom and when crosses were placed at their topsthey were regarded as appropriate symbols of the Church's dominance overthe pagan past. It was, however, merelythe most extravagant of numerous large- and small-scale works that madeRome Bernini's city. The tomb was carved, for the most part, byBernini's assistants working from his designs and models. Peter's tomb. The Danube turns adoringly toward theobelisk, recognizing Europe's Catholic nature (challenged, of course, bythe Reformation). The Four Rivers Fountain (1648-1651) was to serve as a base for anancient Egyptian obelisk. It wasfrom these sources, rather than from older, classic art, that young Berninideveloped his impression of the antique. 98-11 .Matt, Leonard von, and Valerio Mariani. Bernini's work in St. Peter's, the very heartof Catholicism, Bernini transformed the church (both inside and out) withdesigns whose magnificent theatricality was matched by a fervent intensity. At St. Bernini'sdesign gives the obelisk the deceptive appearance of great lightness whichis appropriate to a symbol of the word of God. University Park: U of Pennsylvania P, 1966.Godfrey, F. Ed. The paired monuments at St. This contrasts with classicism's "greater stress ondefinition, order, stability, on structural form and emotional restraint"(Godfrey 287). New York: Taplinger, 1967.Hibbard, Howard. Bauer. This power was given objective form in thisgreat example of Bernini's "scenographic" work (von Matt and Mariani xv). The Danube, the Rio Plata (America was considered one continent), theNile and the Ganges are portrayed as men. The famous Four Rivers Fountain (1648-1651)(Scribner 95) in the Piazza Navona shows Bernini's ability to transformpublic spaces. Thus Bernini's depiction of the heavenlyscene surrounding the Cathedra Petri was intended as an aid to visualizingthe power of the Holy Spirit. Peter's it was thepopes' spiritual authority that was to be impressed on viewers. They were then surmountedby a baldacchino (ordinarily a temporary cloth cover) that is also cast inbronze. The Ganges, whose oar refers to theriver's navigability, awaits the missionaries who will carry the word ofGod along its length. Each possesses attributesreferring to the river he represents (the Nile's head, for example, isshrouded because the river's source was unknown). At the Piazza Navona Bernini's task was to provide acommentary on the universal reach of the Church. Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-168 ) did more than any individual tocreate the appearance of Rome as it exists today. By looking at figures in movement and attempting to delve into thepsychology of the individuals he portrayed, Bernini was charting newterritory. Abovethe reliquary, the Holy Spirit appears in the center of an oval window (asuperb solution to the problem of the existing window) and actual light is,thereby, used as part of the shrine. He did not, for example, carve any of the River figures at the PiazzaNavona. Since Jesus had given Peter the leadership ofHis Church and directed that Peter's followers continue this leadership,anything that emphasized this role was important in the ideological battlewith Protestant Reformers who rejected Papal authority. The emotionally penetrating style ofthe Baroque arose in response to the Counter-Reformation demand forincreased intensity in religious devotions. Bernini. New York: Universe Books, 1961.Scribner, Charles, III. At St. 3rd ed. Rev. Howard Hibbard, Thomas Martin, and Margot Wittkower. Peter(actually a ninth-century artifact, but still a relic second in importanceonly to the saint's tomb). Though the legend of Bernini's precocious talent may have becomerather exaggerated, his apprenticeship among the Vatican's galleries wasthe primary influence on his art (Hibbard 25). Gianlorenzo Bernini. Bernini's design created a fitting depiction of "theChurch Triumphant ever expanding on the four continents" (Hibbard 121). In this work Bernini achieved one of thepinnacles of Baroque religious art. Nor is it surprising that he was interested in theindividual, since the expression of feeling was equally important to hisart. Butthe same procedure was followed in most of Bernini's large composite works. Throughout the city of Rome, thepower of Bernini's papal patrons was reflected in the sumptuous fountains,tombs, and religious sculpture he supplied. Bernini'scommissions in the great church continued for the next fifty years withvarious tombs and individual statues as well as the great Cathedra Petri, acompanion piece to the Baldacchino. As the leading sculptorand architect of the Baroque era, Bernini's talents and tastes meshedperfectly with the Church's demand for an increased magnificence andintensity in religious art. Catherine Enggass. In the setting created by Bernini, the obelisk sits on amountain surrounded by allegorical figures representing the major rivers ofthe four known continents. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1976. The obelisk, topped by the dove of the HolySpirit, rests on the pierced rock at the center of the fountain. The Nile struggles to uncover his head in order toreceive the light of the Church and the Rio Plata lifts his hands in frontof his eyes to shield them from the brilliant light of the Church that hasonly just been revealed to America. Trans. The Catholic Counter-Reformation called for animage of the Church as a triumphant force, undiminished by the hereticalefforts of the Protestant reformers. The Life of Bernini. Peter's isan example of what Wittkower believed was "a concession to a prevailingtaste for classicism" with the portrait statue's traditional contrappostoand sober drapery presenting a strong contrast to the vast majority ofBernini's sculptures (32). Unlike many moreclassically-oriented monuments, however, most of the figures in Bernini'scomposition are in motion and their actions, rather than being meredisplay, are important to the meanings of the work. The Baldacchino presented peculiardifficulties since it had to occupy the central space in the church and yetbe able to hold its own against Michelangelo's great dome. The startling "tangible miracle" that Berninicreated in the Cathedra Petri shows all his talents being placed at theservice of the popes and of God (Scribner 1 ). Only in Rome, Baldinucci said, couldancient and modern art of the first quality be seen in such quantity (9).In "the world's most celebrated capital, a larger arena opened for theexultant flights" of the child's "genius" (Baldinucci 8). Even this unusual combination was to be surpassed, however, by theCathedra Petri which, lying at the end of the apse, is framed by thecolumns of the Baldacchino. The shrine was designed to house the supposed throne of St. New York: Penguin, 199 .Kauffmann, Hans. Three major examples of Bernini's work demonstrate the nature of hisenormous undertaking. Papal authority is not supported by any gross physical power,the shrine proclaims, but by the power of faith and the word of God. He was the son of a sculptor, Pietro, who moved his family to Romewhen Paul V commissioned an important work from him. Though all are seated,the Ganges is the only one at rest. Hibbard suggeststhat this may account for the disappointing quality of the work (1 1). Bernini's true portraits of this period are remarkable for theirliveliness and individuality and, as Bernini's son noted, his fatherrequired sitters to act naturally since, "when in life a man staysimmovably still he is never as like himself as when he is in movement"(Domenico Bernini quoted by Scribner 8 ). If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.