Appreciation Of The Sculpture Of Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Posted on Updated on by David HowardCategories:Artists

Who was he to me?

At started looking at Bernini’s work at the suggestion of a friend, and it became quite an exploration. I would describe his work a flamboyant, with its highly worked realistic style. I find the following extract from “The Art Story” useful to place his work in context:

Bernini was also a leading figure in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture along with his contemporaries, the architect Francesco Borromini and the painter and architect Pietro da Cortona. His designs helped restore Rome to its former architectural glory through an extensive urban planning project taken on under his patronage by the powerful Roman Popes of the time.

The Art Story: Gian Lorenzo Bernini, URL Viewed 14/03/2013

There is no shortage of descriptions of his his work and so I won’t seek to reproduce that here. I’ve included a number of external links at the end of this article which can be used as a spring board for further exploration. It is, in my opinion, a worthwhile journey.

1619 Damned Soul from The Art Story: Gian Lorenzo Bernini, URL Viewed 14/03/2013

Although I can honestly say I appreciate the style, I don’t think it is one that I would ever seek to try to work in. It fits well into a royal palace, elaborate catholic church or other ostentatious context. I can’t see the work fitting into a more contemporary context. I’m not saying that I would prefer Buddy Christ, but Bernini’s style is so far from my own aesthetic as to be another world.

It would also admit, however, that it is a style I’m not convinced that I would work in if I wanted to. This is a style of extreme detail, study of expression and detailed knowledge of form. This is, I think, where my own lessons to learn from Bernini’s work come from.

Working approach

A design for a fountain of Neptune for the Ducal palace at Sassuolo, Italy, Gianlorenzo Bernini, about 1652, Rome. Museum no. CAI.416. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London, from V&A Museum, viewed 14/03/2023.

I found the following extract from the V&A interesting:

A description of Bernini’s working methods survives from his visit to France. For a portrait bust, he would make numerous drawings of his sitters in action to get to know their movements and expressions. Working from memory, he then carved the marble block using chisels and drills. … Our collection also includes a bozzetti for the monument to Pope Alexander VII, designed for his tomb in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome. Although sketchily modelled, it still clearly conveys Bernini’s intention for the resulting portrait. Tool marks can be seen, as well as suggestions of thumb and fingerprints.

Victoria and Albert Museum, viewed 14/03/2023
Front and rear view: Pope Alexander VII, Gianlorenzo Bernini, about 1669 – 70, Italy. Museum no. A.17-1932. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London, from V&A Museum, viewed 14/03/2023.

In this description the bozzetti is a rough clay sculpture, which seems to have been produced for the same purpose as a maquette. In my own practice I work in a similar way, producing sketches and then refining the drawings to work out pose and detail. I will usually then produce a maquette, through I more often work in plasticine (Oil Clay) rather than fired clay.

The following extract is also relevant to his working ethos and objectives:

A highly religious man with a distinct intensity of character, Bernini wished to impart a sense of theatricality and drama that would move his spectators and leave them in awe. Bernini is famous for portraying the most poignant moment in a story (his David, for example, is shown in the midst of bringing Goliath down) and for communicating that event in the most dramatic way possible, by means of exuberant movement, emotive facial expressions, and feats of technical mastery.

Artable: Gian Lorenzo Bernini Style and Technique, viewed 14/03/2023

The Khan Academy adds this:

If we follow the metaphor of a theater, it feels as though we’ve got the best seats in the house! And importantly, what’s happened is that we have immediately become a part of the work of art. It surrounds us, and we are literally inside of it. This is, as we have seen, a typical feature of Baroque art—breaking down the barrier between the work and the viewer —to involve us.

Khan Academy: Bernini, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, viewed 15/03/2023

This is an important observation, as it is fundamental to the use of narrative and the selection of the point in the narrative to transform into a sculpture.

Interesting work

This is a challenging one , as there is so much of it. The Art Story have identified the works they consider to be most important, and I’m going to focus on two of those which I feel are expressive of his master works.

Apollo and Daphne

This work shows off the narrative, flamboyance and anatomical detail in Bernini’s work. The following should provide a good idea of the work:

Apollo and Daphne from Wikipedia, Viewed 14/03/2023
Close up of the work, cropped from the above image from Wikipedia, Viewed 14/03/2023

The following video provides both views of the sculptural work and provides an outline of the narrative of the work:

SmartHistory: Bernini, Apollo and Daphne viewed 14/03/2023

It is well worth looking closely at the images and considering the skill needed to produce this sort of work out of marble. This is a material which is very hard and difficult to carve. Now, further consider the limitations of the tools of the time and the accomplishment of producing a work such as this might start to be understood. It is just stunning.

The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome from Wikipedia, viewed 14/03/2023
Cropped section of The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome from Wikipedia, viewed 14/03/2023

This video, again, provides significant information about the work and the story behind it:

Bernini, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, from SmartHistory viewed 14/03/2023

The work shows off the narrative in Bernini’s work, the detail and the flamboyance again. The Guardian article makes much about the expression on her face, but also

Key take aways

  • Bernini’s work usually has as a distinct narrative, whether it is the ecstasy of Saint Theresa or the transformation of Daphne’s limbs. When considering a work it is worth considering the underlying narrative in more detail, and how this will be reflected in the work.
  • Along with this, the Khan Academy’s theatre analogy is worthy of consideration. When planning a work, once the narrative and context is understood then which moment of that narrative should be focussed on. How might it be portrayed so as to engage the viewer. This is the essential starting point of the sculptural composition.
  • Detail and flamboyance can be appropriate. When considering a work, should I design more detail and elaborate decoration in as part of it?
  • Bernini’s knowledge of form and anatomy was exemplary. This is definitely an area I seek to understand when designing a work, but one in which I can make further progress. I use reference books, such as Anatomy for Sculptors but more drawing from life might be valuable for me.

External Links

David Howard