Overview

The most versatile sculptor-architect of all time, Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) left his indelible stamp of genius on the churches, fountains, and piazzas of Rome. In marble, paint, bronze, stucco, and gilt, through glass and shimmering water and channeled light, he transformed the Eternal City with his unique vision and verve. His strikingly novel introduction of dramatically charged space into traditional forms-tombs, altars, portraits, and freestanding figures-altered forever the nature of sculpture, its relation to painting and architecture, and, above all, its psychological interaction with the viewer. Bernini brought to his work a sensual vitality and sheer virtuosity unprecedented in sculpture. But it is his magical, often mystical unification of the arts that epitomizes Bernini as the Baroque artist par excellence. Accompanied by 71 illustrations, Scribner's engaging biography reveals much behind the facades of 17th-century Rome. Over his career of seventy years, serving eight popes, Bernini dominated both his century and his city. His princely patrons included France's 'Sun King', Louis XIV, who summoned him to Paris to design the Louvre. The 42 color plates, each with extensive commentary, cover the entire spectrum of Bernini's masterpieces and confirm his role as the impresario of the Baroque Age.

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9781503016330

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CHARLES SCRIBNER III received his Ph.D. in art history from Princeton University, where he taught in the Department of Art and Archaeology (later serving on its Advisory Council) while working as editor and executive in the family publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons. His lectures and writings focus on the Baroque art of Rubens, Bernini, and Caravaggio. His books include The Triumph of the Eucharist: Tapestries Designed by Rubens; Rubens; Bernini; and The Shadow of God: A Journey Through Memory, Art, and Faith. He was awarded the Yorktown Certificate by the US Department of Treasury for his successful undercover role with Special Agents in recovering in Miami Beach a stolen Rubens from Spain, later the subject of the television documentary The Rubens Robbers (BBC/Bravo). He lives in New York. For further information: www.charlesscribner.com

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