

He is also noted for sculpting portrait busts, something that had once only been reserved for Popes and Kings, however, Bernini’s most famed bust is that of his lover Constanza, the wife of his assistant.īernini’s short fuse was evident as the major scandal of his life was that of his affair with Constanza. During his youth, he sculpts notable art pieces such as the statue of David, Apollo and Daphne, and the Rape of Proserpina. Given that he was known not to refuse any commission offered him, his workshop acted as more of a warehouse where he had dozens of assistants under his tutelage. He works under the patronage of the papal nephew Cardinal Scipione Borghese from 1618 to 1625, who recognises his talent and tells the Pope of his impeccable sculpture work. A marble sculpture of Saint Lawrence, his patron saint, as the sculptor was a devout Catholic. His first work as a young adult was completed in 1617. Bernini would thrive in Rome and ultimately become the greatest Baroque sculpture of his time.

In 17 th century Rome, when Popes were rebuilding the city, there was an influx of artists who found work in the city. When the family moves to Rome in 1606 to allow for Pietro to work on the Santa Maria Maggiore church, Gian Bernini’s career begins to flourish. His father Pietro was a prominent Mannerist sculptor, and so the young Bernini son began his own sculpting at an early age, his first piece being completed at the age of 8 years old. Peter’s Basilica and the Monument of Alexander VII, but do you know of the artist who created them?īorn in Naples on the 7 th of December 1598, Gian Lorenzo Bernini was born into a family of 13 children.
