Giovanni Bernini Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini
OCCUPATION: Architect, Sculptor
BIRTH DATE: December 07, 1598
DEATH DATE: November 28, 1680
PLACE OF BIRTH: Naples, Italy

PLACE OF DEATH: Rome, Italy
AKA: Gianlorenzo Bernini
AKA: Gian Lorenzo Bernini

more about Giovanni

Best Known For

Italian architect and sculptor Giovanni Bernini created many famous landmarks in Rome during the 17th century and is considered the father of Baroque sculpture.

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Giovanni Bernini

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Synopsis

Born in Naples in 1598, Italian architect and sculptor Giovanni Bernini is widely considered the creator of the Baroque style of sculpture. He served eight different popes in his lifetime and contributed to a number of landmarks in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica and the Fountain of the Four Rivers.

Profile

(born Dec. 7, 1598, Naples, Kingdom of Naples—died Nov. 28, 1680, Rome, Papal States) Italian architect and artist credited with creating the Baroque style of sculpture. He began his career working for his father, a sculptor. Among his early sculptures are Apollo and Daphne (1622–24) and an active David (1623–24). Under the patronage of Urban VIII, the first of eight popes he was to serve, he created the baldachin over the tomb of St. Peter in Rome. Bernini's architectural duties increased after 1629, when he was appointed architect of St. Peter's Basilica and the Palazzo Barberini. His works often represent a fusion of architecture and sculpture, as in the Cornaro Chapel, in Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome, with its celebrated theatrical sculpture, The Ecstasy of St. Teresa (1645–52). His greatest architectural achievement is the colonnade enclosing the piazza before St. Peter's. Among his many other contributions to Rome are his Triton Fountain and Fountain of the Four Rivers, noted for their architectural composition and detail.