Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, , ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 159828 November 1680) was one of the greatest artists of the Italian Baroque period. He was famous both for his sculpture and his architecture. From 1627, he worked for Pope Urban XIII and then for Pope Alexander VII at St. Peter's Basilica where he designed the famous piazza (place) in front of the basilica and many of the most splendid things that are inside.
Early life
Bernini was born in Naples, Italy. He was the son of Pietro Bernini (1562-1629) who was a well known sculptor. When he was about 7 years old, his father took him to Rome.
Inspiration
As a boy and as a young man living in Rome, he saw the works of many famous artists. He saw the famous fresco paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, one of the most famous artists of the 1500s. The paintings told the Bible story of Creation. He saw the huge dome of St. Peter's Basilica which Michelangelo designed and the new extension to the building that was being built by Carlo Maderna.
Works
One artist who Bernini knew well was Annibale Carracci who painted scenes on the ceilings of rooms for the pope. The scenes told stories, often Ancient Roman legends. Carracci took Bernini into St. Peter's Basilica. Bernini fell on his knees and decided at that moment that he wanted to make something beautiful and splendid to honour Saint Peter.
Another artist whose work Bernini saw was Caravaggio. Caravaggio's paintings were nothing like Carracci's. Carracci's pictures were bright, lively and colourful. Caravaggio's pictures were dark, sad and often frightening. But looking into Caravaggio's paintings was like looking at something that was really happening while you were watching. The people in Caravaggio's paintings looked as if they could breathe, speak and feel pain.
By the time he was 20, Bernini was a sculptor, carving statues out of marble. He had learnt a lot, not just how to carve marble, which he learnt from his father, but how to make figures that told stories like Carracci's and Michelangelo's and seemed to be alive, like Caravaggio's. An important man in the Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal Scipione Borghese, saw his work and became his patron, paying Bernini to make many beautiful sculptures for him and his family. Soon the cardinal's uncle got to hear about Bernini. He was Pope Urban VIII, the most powerful man in Italy. He asked Bernini to work for him at St. Peter's Basilica. Bernini spent 40 years of his life there, all the time except for a trip to France and shorter visits to other cities.
Bernini's sculpture
Most sculptures of that time were just of one figure. But Bernini had seen Michelangelo's famous sculpture of the "Pieta" which showed the Virgin Mary grieving over the body of her dead son, Jesus. Bernini made figures that were in groups and told stories. One of his famous groups comes from Roman Mythology. It shows the god, Apollo chasing a beautiful wood nymph (a sort of fairy) that he had fallen in love with. But her father had magic powers and suddenly turned his daughter into a tree. Bernini sculptured the very moment when her toes are turning into roots, her legs are becoming the trunk, and leaves are sprouting out of her hands and long hair. She has her mouth open and a look of horror on her face. No-one had ever tried to carve anything like that in marble before. The thing that is so amazing about Bernini's sculpture is that he has made the flesh, the wood, the leaves and the hair all look so real, even though they are all carved in white stone.
Bernini's most famous sculpture is St. Theresa in Ecstasy. It tells the story of a saint who had a vision of an angel. Her vision was so beautiful that she fainted. Bernini has sculptured the vision, with St. Theresa lying on a cloud with the laughing angel in front of her. Their robes are blowing around, and it is hard to believe that the whole scene, which is set against a wall, is not really floating. Bernini did not just design the statues. He also designed the walls of the chapel around it, which is like a stage-set, made of beautifully patterned marble. Against another wall, he carved a balcony and several white marble people looking at the scene. They are members of the family that paid for the chapel.