Bernini And The Birth Of Baroque Portrait Sculpture

Gian Lorenzo Bernini was the greatest sculptor of the Baroque period, and yet—surprisingly—there has never before been a major exhibition of his sculpture in North America. Bernini and the Birth of Baroque Portrait Sculpture showcases portrait sculptures from all phases of the artist’s long career, from the very early Antonio Coppola of 1612 to Clement X of about 1676, one of his last completed works. Bernini’s portrait busts were masterpieces of technical virtuosity; at the same time, they revealed a new interest in psychological depth. Bernini’s ability to capture the essential character of his subjects was unmatched and had a profound influence on other leading sculptors of his day, such as Alessandro Algardi, Giuliano Finelli, and Francesco Mochi. Bernini and the Birth of Baroque Portrait Sculpture is a groundbreaking study that features drawings and paintings by Bernini and his contemporaries. Together they demonstrate not only the range, skill, and acuity of these masters of Baroque portraiture but also the interrelationship of the arts in seventeenth-century Rome.

"The vitality of Petersson's book is drawn directly from the sculpture of Bernini, an artist now regarded as the true successor of Michelangelo. It differs from others by bringing the reader inside the sculptural process, from genesis to completed form. Frequently Bernini had to solve uniquely interesting problems and his innovative talents never faltered." "As well as presenting the brilliant, flamboyant Bernini, the book simultaneously displays Rome in the throes of its Counter-Reformation renewal, the second birth of the city with the full panoply of its arts, culture, and aberrant activities during Bernini's years in the service of eight popes. In later life he expanded his fame by spending an eventful half year in Paris at the invitation of Louis XIV. The proud and touchy Bernini, then the most celebrated artist in Europe, was in a pitched battle with the arrogant and aggressive French. Yet in Paris as in Rome it is the artistic works that have lasted and are widely known as having redirected the course of European sculpture."--BOOK JACKET. Book jacket.

This book accompanies the National Gallery of Scotland's major Festival exhibition in 1998, a joint celebration of the fourth centenaries of the births of the two greatest sculptors of the Italian Baroque era, Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) and Alessandro Algardi (1598-1654). The Baroque is a style renowned for its elaborate combination of materials and its unification of various branches of the arts into a harmonious whole. This book will include detailed information and commentaries by leading authorities on the marble sculptures, bronzes, terracottas, medals and drawings produced by these two great artists in what was a fascinating and highly influential period in European art and design.

A catalogue raisonné of the greatest sculptor of his age.

As early as the 1950s, Professor Irving Lavin was recognized as a major voice in American art history. His sustained production of seminal scholarly contributions have left their mark on an astonishingly wide range of -subjects and fields. Bringing these far-reaching publications together will not only provide a valuable resource to scholars and -students, but will also underscore fundamental themes in the history of art - historicism, the art of commemoration, the relationship between style and meaning, the -intelligence of artists - themes that define the role of the visual arts in human communication. Irving Lavin is best known for his array of fundamental publications on the Baroque artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). These include new discoveries and studies on the master's prodigious childhood, his architecture and -portraiture, his invention of caricature, his depictions of religious faith and political leadership, his work in the -theatre, his attitude toward death and the role of the artist in the creation of a modern sense of social responsibility. All of Professor Lavin's papers on Bernini are here brought together in three volumes. The studies have been reset and in many cases up-dated, and there is a comprehensive index.

Drawing on rich archival research and focusing on works by leading artists including Guido Reni and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Karen J. Lloyd demonstrates that cardinal nephews in seventeenth-century Rome – those nephews who were raised to the cardinalate as princes of the Church – used the arts to cultivate more than splendid social status. Through politically savvy frescos and emotionally evocative displays of paintings, sculptures, and curiosities, cardinal nephews aimed to define nepotism as good Catholic rule. Their commissions took advantage of their unique position close to the pope, embedding the defense of their role into the physical fabric of authority, from the storied vaults of the Vatican Palace to the sensuous garden villas that fused business and pleasure in the Eternal City. This book uncovers how cardinal nephews crafted a seductively potent dialogue on the nature of power, fuelling the development of innovative visual forms that championed themselves as the indispensable heart of papal politics. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, early modern studies, religious history, and political history.

"A critical translation of the unabridged Italian text of Domenico Bernini's biography of his father, seventeenth-century sculptor, architect, painter, and playwright Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). Includes commentary on the author's data and interpretations, contrasting them with other contemporary primary sources and recent scholarship"--Provided by publisher.