Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Gian Lorenzo Bernini Gian Lorenzo Bernini Born December 7, 1598, Naples, Kingdom of Naples [Italy] Died November 28, 1680, Rome, Papal States Italian artist who was perhaps the greatest sculptor of the 17th century and an outstanding architect as well. Bernini created the Baroque style of sculpture and developed it to such an extent that other artists are of only minor importance in a discussion of that style. Early Years Bernini’s career began under his father, Pietro Bernini, a Florentine sculptor of some talent who ultimately moved to Rome. The young prodigy worked so diligently that he earned the praise of the painter Annibale Carracci and the patronage of Pope Paul V and soon established himself as a wholly independent sculptor. He was strongly influenced by his close study of the antique Greek and Roman marbles in the Vatican, and he also had an intimate knowledge of High Renaissance painting of the early 16th century. His study of Michelangelo is revealed in the St. Sebastian (c. 1617), carved for Maffeo Cardinal Barberini, who was later Pope Urban VIII and Bernini’s greatest patron. Bernini’s early works attracted the attention of Scipione Cardinal Borghese, a member of the reigning papal family. Under his patronage, Bernini carved his first important life-size sculptural groups. The series shows Bernini’s progression from the almost haphazard single view of Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius Fleeing Troy (1619) to strong frontality in Pluto and Proserpina (1621–22) and then to the hallucinatory vision of Apollo and Daphne (1622–24), which was intended to be viewed from one spot as if it were a relief. In his David (1623–24), Bernini depicts the figure casting a stone at an unseen adversary. Several portrait busts that Bernini executed during this period, including that of Robert Cardinal Bellarmine (1623–24), show a new awareness of the relationship between head and body and display an ability to depict fleeting facial expressions with acute realism. These marble works show an unparalleled virtuosity in carving that obdurate material to achieve the delicate effects usually found only in bronze sculptures. Bernini’s sensual awareness of the surface textures of skin and hair and his novel sense of shading broke with the tradition of Michelangelo and marked the emergence of a new period in the history of Western sculpture. Patronage Of Urban VIII With the pontificate of Urban VIII (1623–44), Bernini entered a period of enormous productivity and artistic development. Urban VIII urged his protégé to paint and to practice architecture. His first architectural work was the remodeled Church of Santa Bibiana in Rome. At the same time, Bernini was commissioned to build a symbolic structure over the tomb of St. Peter in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The result is the famous immense gilt-bronze baldachin executed between 1624 and 1633. Its twisted columns derive from the early Christian columns that had been used in the altar screen of Old St. Peter’s. Bernini’s most original contribution to the final work is the upper framework of crowning volutes flanked by four angels that supports the orb and cross. The baldachin is perfectly proportioned to its setting, and one hardly realizes that it is as tall as a four-story building. Its lively outline moving upward to the triumphant crown, its dark colour heightened with burning gold, give it the character of a living organism. An unprecedented fusion of sculpture and architecture, the baldachin is the first truly Baroque monument. It ultimately formed the centre of a programmatic decoration designed by Bernini for the interior of St. Peter’s. Bernini next supervised the decoration of the four piers supporting the dome of St. Peter’s with colossal statues, though only one of the latter, St. Longinus, was designed by him. He also made a series of portrait busts of Urban VIII, but the first bust to achieve the quality of his earlier portraits is that of his great patron, Scipione Cardinal Borghese (1632). The cardinal is shown in the act of speaking and moving, and the action is caught at a moment that seems to reveal all the characteristic qualities of the subject. Bernini’s architectural duties increased after the death of Carlo Maderno in 1629, when Bernini became architect of St. Peter’s and of the Palazzo Barberini. By this time he was not only executing works himself but also having to rely on assistance from others as the number of his commissions grew. He was successful in organizing his studio and planning his work so that sculptures and ornamentations produced by a team actually seem to be all of a piece. Bernini’s work, then and always, was also shaped by his fervent Roman Catholicism (he attended mass every day and took communion twice a week). He would agree with the formulations of the Council of Trent (1545–63) that the purpose of religious art was to teach and inspire the faithful and to serve as propaganda for the Roman Catholic Church. Religious art should always be intelligible and realistic, and, above all, it should serve as an emotional stimulus to piety. The development of Bernini’s religious art was largely determined by his conscientious efforts to conform to those principles. Under Urban VIII Bernini began to produce new and different kinds of monuments— tombs and fountains. The tomb of Urban VIII (1628–47) shows the pope seated with his arm raised in a commanding gesture, while below him are two white marble figures representing the Virtues. Bernini also designed a revolutionary series of small tomb memorials, of which the most impressive is that of Maria Raggi (1643). But his fountains are his most obvious contribution to the city of Rome. The Triton Fountain in the Piazza Barberini (1642–43) is a dramatic transformation of a Roman architectonic fountain—the superposed basins of the traditional geometric piazza fountain appearing to have come alive. Four dolphins raise a huge shell supporting the sea god, who blows water upward out of a conch. Bernini’s early architectural projects, however, were not invariably successful. In 1637 he began to erect campaniles, or bell towers, over the facade of St. Peter’s. But, in 1646, when their weight began to crack the building, they were pulled down, and Bernini was temporarily disgraced. Patronage Of Innocent X And Alexander VII Bernini’s most spectacular public monuments date from the mid-1640s to the 1660s. The Fountain of the Four Rivers in Rome’s Piazza Navona (1648–51) supports an ancient Egyptian obelisk over a hollowed-out rock, surmounted by four marble figures symbolizing four major rivers of the world. This fountain is one of his most spectacular works. The greatest single example of Bernini’s mature art is the Cornaro Chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria, in Rome, which completes the evolution begun early in his career. The chapel, commissioned by Federigo Cardinal Cornaro, is in a shallow transept in the small church. Its focal point is his sculpture of The Ecstasy of St. Teresa (1645–52), a depiction of a mystical experience of the great Spanish Carmelite reformer Teresa of Ávila. In representing Teresa’s vision, during which an angel pierced her heart with a fiery arrow of divine love, Bernini followed Teresa’s own description of the event. The sculptured group, showing the transported saint swooning in the void, covered by cascading drapery, is revealed in celestial light within a niche over the altar, where the architectural and decorative elements are richly joined and articulated. At left and right, in spaces resembling opera boxes, numerous members of the Cornaro family are found in spirited postures of conversation, reading, or prayer. The Cornaro Chapel carries Bernini’s ideal of a three-dimensional picture to its apex. The figures of St. Teresa and the angel are sculptured in white marble, but the viewer cannot tell whether they are in the round or merely in high relief. The natural daylight that falls on the figures from a hidden source above and behind them is part of the group, as are the gilt rays behind. The Ecstasy of St. Teresa is not sculpture in the conventional sense. Instead, it is a framed pictorial scene made up of sculpture, painting, and light that also includes the worshiper in a religious drama. In his later years, the growing desire to control the environments of his statuary led Bernini to concentrate more and more on architecture. Of the churches he designed after completing the Cornaro Chapel, the most impressive is that of Sant’Andrea al Quirinale (1658–70) in Rome, with its dramatic high altar, soaring dome, and unconventionally sited oval plan. But Bernini’s greatest architectural achievement is the colonnade enclosing the piazza before St. Peter’s Basilica. The chief function of the large space was to hold the crowd that gathered for the papal benediction on Easter and other special occasions. Bernini planned a huge oval attached to the church by a trapezoidal forecourt —forms that he compared to the encircling arms of the mother church. The freestanding colonnades were a novel solution to the need for a penetrable enclosure. The piazza guides the visitor toward the church and counterbalances the overly wide facade of St. Peter’s. Bernini’s oval encloses a space centred on the Vatican obelisk, which had been moved before the church by Sixtus V in 1586. Bernini moved an older fountain by Maderno into the long axis of the piazza and built a twin on the other side to make a scenographic whole. The analogies to Bernini’s oval plan of Sant’Andrea al Quirinale are fascinating, as are the differences in meaning and function.
Recommended publications
  • 1-Day Rome City Guide a Preplanned Step-By-Step Time Line and City Guide for Rome
    1 day 1-day Rome City Guide A preplanned step-by-step time line and city guide for Rome. Follow it and get the best of the city. 1-day Rome City Guide 2 © PromptGuides.com 1-day Rome City Guide Overview of Day 1 LEAVE HOTEL Tested and recommended hotels in Rome > Take Metro Line A to Ottaviano San Pietro station 09:00-10:10 St. Peter's Basilica Largest Christian Page 5 church in the world 10:10-10:40 Piazza di San Pietro One of the best known Page 5 squares in the world Take Metro Line A from Ottaviano San Pietro station to Termini station (Direction: Anagnina) Change to Metro Line B from Termini station to Colosseo station (Direction: Laurentina) - 30’ in all 11:10-12:40 Colosseum Iconic symbol of Page 6 Imperial Rome Take a walk to Arch of Constantine - 5’ 12:45-12:55 Arch of Constantine Majestic monument Page 6 Lunch time Take a walk to Piazza Venezia 14:30-14:50 Piazza Venezia Focal point of modern Page 7 Rome Take a walk to the Pantheon - 15’ 15:05-15:35 Pantheon The world's largest Page 7 unreinforced concrete Take a walk to Piazza Navona - 10’ dome 15:45-16:15 Piazza Navona One of the most Page 7 beautiful squares in Take a walk to Trevi Fountain - 25’ Rome 16:40-17:10 Trevi Fountain One of the most familiar Page 8 sights of Rome Take a walk to Spanish Steps - 20’ 17:30-18:00 Spanish Steps Rome's most beloved Page 8 Rococo monument END OF DAY 1 © PromptGuides.com 3 1-day Rome City Guide Overview of Day 1 4 © PromptGuides.com 1-day Rome City Guide Attraction Details 09:00-10:10 St.
    [Show full text]
  • A Political Interpretation of a Proscenium Arch Designed by Francesco Romanelli for the Opera “San Bonifazio” (1638) Leila Zammar
    ISSN 2421-2679 146 A political interpretation of a proscenium arch designed by Francesco Romanelli for the opera “San Bonifazio” (1638) Leila Zammar description might ft in part to the character as some of its attributes are usually associated to the personifcation of Justice, I will propose another ome years ago, while I was looking for reading, which better matches the programmatic information about the artists who were meaning the Barberini family wanted to convey hired by the Barberini to stage their operas with the opera San Bonifazio for which his arch Sin Rome for the Carnival season 1638, I found was very likely designed. Romanelli was in fact an interesting drawing by the painter Giovanni one of the artists chosen by the noble family to Francesco Romanelli (c.1610-1662). Te drawing, design works of art that could be a good means held in the Metropolitan Museum of New York, of conveying their political propaganda (about shows an incomplete proscenium arch of a stage the role of Francesco Romanelli see Oy-Marra with the crest of the Barberini placed at the centre 2007: 303-16). of the architrave. Born in Viterbo, Romanelli, also known as Il Viterbese, from his birth city, or Il Rafaellino, afer Rafaello, was trained in Rome where he studied with Il Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri, 1581-1641) frst, and then with Pietro da Cortona (Pietro Berettini, 1596-1669). It is probable that the latter introduced him to the court of the Barberini family since Romanelli was his collaborator in painting the frescos for the chapel inside Palazzo Barberini (1631-32).
    [Show full text]
  • Franciscan Saints, Blesseds, and Feasts (To Navigate to a Page, Press Ctrl+Shift+N and Then Type Page Number)
    Franciscan Saints, Blesseds, and Feasts (to navigate to a page, press Ctrl+Shift+N and then type page number) Saints St. Francis de Sales, January 29 ................................................ 3 St. Agnes of Assisi, November 19 ..........................................29 St. Francis Mary of Camporosso, September 20 ................24 St. Agnes of Prague, March 2 ...................................................6 St. Francis of Paola, April 2 ........................................................9 St. Albert Chmielowski, June 17 ............................................. 16 St. Francisco Solano, July 14 .....................................................19 St. Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception, July 28........20 St. Giles Mary of St. Joseph, February 7 ................................4 St. Amato Ronconi, May 8 .......................................................12 St. Giovanni of Triora, February 7 ............................................4 St. Angela Merici, January 27 ................................................... 3 St. Gregory Grassi, July 8 ........................................................ 18 St. Angela of Foligno, January 7 ................................................1 St. Hermine Grivot, July 8 ....................................................... 18 St. Angelo of Acri, October 30 .............................................. 27 St. Humilis of Bisignano, November 25 .................................30 St. Anthony of Padua, June 13 ................................................ 16 St.
    [Show full text]
  • History of the Franciscan Movement
    HISTORY OF THE FRANCISCAN MOVEMENT Volume 2 FROM THE YEAR 1517 TO THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL On-line course in Franciscan History at Washington Theological Union Washington DC By Noel Muscat OFM Jerusalem 2008 History of the Franciscan Movement. Volume 2: From 1517 to the Second Vatican Council Chapter 10 NEW REFORMS AND NEW DIVISIONS: THE BIRTH OF THE CAPUCHINS AND REFORMS WITHIN THE OBSERVANCE The friars “of the Holy Gospel” The Order of Friars Minor of the Regular Observance, after the union of all the reformed families in 1517, became a powerful religious family dedicated mainly to apostolic missions. A minority of friars, however, continued to insist upon living a simpler Franciscan life in the hermitages. Besides the Amadeiti and Coletani, there were other congregations which preferred eremitical life, like the Clareni and the friars “of the Holy Gospel” or Capuciati. This last religious family was one which the Bulla Ite vos of Leo X (1517) had not managed to integrate within the Order of the Friars Minor of the Regular Observance. They were born, as we have already seen, with the initiative of Juan de la Puebla, who had made an experience of Franciscan life in the Umbrian hermitages of central Italy, and then had returned to Spain, founding a congregation of friars who lived the literal observance of the Rule in the hermitages. Among his followers there was Juan de Guadalupe, who in 1508 obtained the approval of the Province “of the Holy Gospel”.1 The negative reaction of the Spanish Observants, who persecuted the new religious family, compelled the brothers of the Custody of Estremadura to place themselves under the obedience of the Conventuals in 1515, and thus became to be known by the name of “Reformed Conventuals”.2 They wore a short tunic with a pyramidal hood, and hence also the name Capuciati.
    [Show full text]
  • Bernini Breaking Barriers – Sensuality Sculpted in Stone
    Bernini Breaking Barriers – Sensuality Sculpted in Stone Sandra Mifsud Bonnici [email protected] Abstract This paper will attempt to demonstrate that with his virtuosity, the Baroque sculptor, Gian Lorenzo Bernini managed to challenge the barriers which the medium he worked with, namely stone (marble) offered, to produce dynamic, lifelike and realistic works that also managed to express a previously unknown element in sculpture, that of sensuality. It will try to highlight how the spiritual and physical could come together in his works. The first masterpiece that will be focused upon will be the portrait bust of Bernini’s lover Costanza Piccolomini, a private work Bernini sculpted when he was thirty-nine years of age, chosen to represent the passion and worldly love that he felt for this woman. By way of contrast, the second masterpiece studied in this paper is the figure of the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni, one of his last works, chosen to represent Bernini’s concept of the culmination of spiritual love that also incorporated a sensual element. The third and final masterpiece is the ecstasy of St. Teresa of Avila found in the Cornaro Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, considered by many as his greatest work, as an example of how mysticism also has a sensual element to it. Keywords: Baroque sculpture, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, sensuality, Costanza Piccolomini, Ludovica Albertoni, St Teresa d’Avila. No one can deny that Gian Lorenzo Bernini had the extraordinary technical skill and expertise to sculpt anything that he visualised or saw. The numerous works of art that he continued to create into his maturity and almost up to his death are evidence of this.
    [Show full text]
  • The Aqua Traiana / Aqua Paola and Their Effects on The
    THE AQUA TRAIANA / AQUA PAOLA AND THEIR EFFECTS ON THE URBAN FABRIC OF ROME Carolyn A. Mess A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Department of Architectural History In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Architectural History May 2014 Cammy Brothers __________________ Sheila Crane __________________ John Dobbins __________________ ii ABSTRACT Infrastructure has always played an important role in urban planning, though the focus of urban form is often the road system and the water system is only secondary. This is a misconception as often times the hydraulic infrastructure determined where roads were placed. Architectural structures were built where easily accessible potable water was found. People established towns and cities around water, like coasts, riverbanks, and natural springs. This study isolates two aqueducts, the Aqua Traiana and its Renaissance counterpart, the Aqua Paola. Both of these aqueducts were exceptional feats of engineering in their planning, building techniques, and functionality; however, by the end of their construction, they symbolized more than their outward utilitarian architecture. Within their given time periods, these aqueducts impacted an entire region of Rome that had twice been cut off from the rest of the city because of its lack of a water supply and its remote location across the Tiber. The Aqua Traiana and Aqua Paola completely transformed this area by improving residents’ hygiene, building up an industrial district, and beautifying the area of Trastevere. This study
    [Show full text]
  • 064-Sant'andrea Delle Fratte
    (064/36) Sant'Andrea delle Fratte Sant'Andrea delle Fratte is a minor basilica, as well as an early 17th century parish, titular and convent church in the rione Colonna, just to the south of the Piazza di Spagna, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. History The first church here was built in the 1192, called infra hortes (later translated into "delle Fratte" or "shrubs") for it was located in a countryside area. The first time that the name Fratte is used is in the 15th century. It means literally "woods" or "overgrown vegetation", and seems to commemorate an overgrown area which might have been an abandoned piece of land, some shrubby garden or the facing slope of the Pincian hill when it was still wild. (1) (11) The church was probably rebuilt (or newly built on this site) in the 15th century, when there is a hint in the records that an Augustinian nunnery was established here. Then it was for some time the national church of Scotland as an independent kingdom (St Andrew is Scotland's patron). After the Scottish Reformation in 1560 the Scots completely lost interest in it, and for a while it was taken over by a pious confraternity dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament. However it was given to the Order of Minim of St. Francis of Paola Friars in 1585, and they still serve the parish which was simultaneously created. (1) (11) In 1604 the construction of the new church was begun, under the design of Gaspare Guerra. The project halted in 1612 due to lack of funds.
    [Show full text]
  • Jacqueline Treloar
    Jacqueline Treloar [email protected] • www.jacquelinetreloar.com EDUCATION National Diploma in Art and Design, Central School of Art and Design (London, U.K.)1969 B.F.A., Council for National Academic Awards (London, U.K.) 1969 SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS and PUBLIC ART PROJECTS The Toronto Homeless Memorial List, Magna Pallium, the Church of the Holy Trinity, 2019(catalogue) War Regalia for the three great archangels Michael Raphael and Gabriel- in progress M8V 1 E 7-M8Y3K1V- Lakeshore West from Mimico to Humber- in progress Pantokrator, Kingston Road United Church, Spring/Summer 2018 Coronas Magnas Reginae Caeli, The Church of the Holy Trinity, Toronto, summer 2014 (catalogue- essay Gary Michael Dault) Coronas Reginae Caeli, the Gladstone Hotel Artbar, Toronto, 2013 Kingston Road United Church Installation Kingston Road United Church (Toronto) Spring 2013 The Great Coat and the White Cat, Artscape Triangle Gallery (Toronto, Canada) 2011 (catalogue) A n Interpretation of the Westminster Abbey Great Pavement The Church of the Holy Trinity (Toronto, Canada) 2011 (catalogue) Manuscripts, Monuments and Memories, Yorkminster Park Gallery (Toronto, Canada) 2009 Part II Following the Phoenix: On the Trail of the Canadian Campaign in Sicily, July 1943 The Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts (Toronto, Canada) 2008 (catalogue) Part I Search and Discover: On the Trail of the Canadian Campaign in Sicily, July 1943 Cell Gallery, Gallery 1313 (Toronto, Canada) 2008 The Secret Room of Giuseppa Filangeri di San Marco Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts, Gallery 1313 (Toronto, Canada) 2007 (catalogue) Sites Toronto Cell Gallery, Gallery 1313 (Toronto, Canada) 2006 The Great Pavement Library and Gallery (Cambridge, Canada) 2000 Romanesque Panels Italian Consulate (Toronto, Canada) 1999 Palermo, La Conca d’Oro Italian Consulate, Sicilian Cultural Society at the Columbus Centre (Toronto, Canada) 1999 Lepidoptera in the Treasury of Frederick II Yorkville Public Library (Toronto, Canada) 1999 S.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Rome in Bernini's Footsteps
    Rome in Bernini’s Footsteps – La Voce di New York 11/25/17, 10:19 AM Roma bike tours - Choose the best guided tour Enjoy with us the squares, the monuments, and the streets of the genuine Rome. leadingroma.com Sections Close DONATE VNY PROUD Arts Commenta per primoShared: 6!"#$%& Rome in Bernini’s Footsteps Afer seeing ”Bernini” at the Villa Borghese, follow this itinerary to visit this exceptional artist's other masterpieces around Rome by Lucy Gordan Elephant and Obelisk by Bernini Nov 20 2017 At the Villa Borghese in Rome several of Bernini's sculptures are on permanent exhibit, but his heritage is to be found in more sites in Rome. An easier but not chronological route, which takes about 2 hours on foot (or by hopping on and off the no. 62 bus) not including visiting time, starts at the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria with his Ecstasy of St. Teresa and ends in St. Peter’s Square. Utilizziamo i cookie per offrirti servizi e informazioni in linea con le tue preferenze. Continuando a scorrere e a navigare ne consenti l'uso. OK Maggiori informazioni http://www.lavocedinewyork.com/en/arts/2017/11/20/rome-in-the-berninis-footsteps/ Page 1 of 10 Rome in Bernini’s Footsteps – La Voce di New York 11/25/17, 10:19 AM Gianlorenzo Bernini Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the most famous and important sculptor in 17th century Europe, but also a recognized architect, painter, events organizer, poet and playwright, was born in Naples on December 7, 1598 to a Mannerist sculptor, Pietro Bernini, originally from near Florence, and Angelica Galante, a Neapolitan, the sixth of their thirteen children.
    [Show full text]
  • Multidisciplinary Research
    MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH Abstracts of XIV International Scientific and Practical Conference Bilbao, Spain December 21 – 24, 2020 MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data UDC 01.1 The XIV International scientific-practical conference “Multidisciplinary research”, December 21 – 24 –, 2020, Bilbao, Spain. 524 p. ISBN - 978-1-63684-350-6 DOI - 10.46299/ISG.2020.II.XIV EDITORIAL BOARD Professor of the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology Pluzhnik Elena Odessa State University of Internal Affairs Candidate of Law, Associate Professor Scientific and Research Institute of Providing Legal Framework for Liubchych Anna the Innovative Development National Academy of Law Sciences of Ukraine, Kharkiv, Ukraine, Scientific secretary of Institute Department of Accounting and Auditing Kharkiv Liudmyla Polyvana National Technical University of Agriculture named after Petr Vasilenko, Ukraine Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor of Mushenyk Iryna Mathematical Disciplines , Informatics and Modeling. Podolsk State Agrarian Technical University Oleksandra Kovalevska Dnipropetrovsk State University of Internal Affairs Dnipro, Ukraine Odessa State University of Internal Affairs, Prudka Liudmyla Associate Professor of Criminology and Psychology Department Slabkyi Hennadii Doctor of Medical Sciences, Head of the Department of Health Sciences, Uzhhorod National University. Ph.D. in Machine Friction and Wear (Tribology), Associate Professor of Department of Tractors and Agricultural Machines, Marchenko Dmytro Maintenance and Servicing, Lecturer, Deputy dean on academic affairs of Engineering and Energy Faculty of Mykolayiv National Agrarian University (MNAU), Mykolayiv, Ukraine Harchenko Roman Candidate of Technical Sciences, specialty 05.22.20 - operation and repair of vehicles. MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES 1. Lykhovyd P., Biliaieva I., Lavrenko S. 17 APPLICATION OF PLANT GROWTH REGULATOR REGOPLANT ON VEGETABLE CROPS 2.
    [Show full text]
  • View of the Interior of the Basilica of St. Peter's, Rome
    Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg (c. 1630 - c. 1676) View of the interior of the Basilica of St. Peter's, Rome Oil on canvas 166.4 cm (65 ½ in.) high 136.5 cm (53 ¾ in.) wide Signed and dated '·W·S· van Ehrenberg fe: 1665' (lower centre) and inscribed with scale (lower centre) In 1662 Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg entered the painters guild of St Luke in Antwerp, the city where he resided for most of his career. He specialised in grand interior views – often collaborating with fellow painters, who would execute the figures populating his monumental architectures – and ‘gallery paintings’, detailed representations of picture galleries. His subjects varied from churches to palaces, and from the real to the fantastical. His brushstroke, always fine and luminous, expertly outlined these interiors with great accuracy, as the artist clearly delighted in the intricacy of baroque rooms and princely corridors. The present canvas, signed and dated 1665, perfectly embodies van Ehrenberg’s painterly vocabulary and exemplifies his tremendous skill as an artist. The central nave of St Peter’s Basilica, looking towards Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s famous Baldacchino, is rendered in its every detail, yet its sheer scale is heightened by the painter’s choice of viewpoint and by his dramatic depiction of light, with the foreground darker and the background diaphanously illuminated. The almost minuscule figures also highlight the church’s grand size, yet also make it accessible to the viewer in a way that a cold, empty interior could never be. The name of Charles Emmanuel Biset (1633-1710), who often collaborated with van Ehrenberg, has been suggested for these.
    [Show full text]
  • A Baroque Denouement: the Direct Influence of Theatre on Bernini's Artistic Work
    A Baroque Denouement: The Direct Influence of Theatre on Bernini's Artistic Work Item Type text; Electronic Thesis Authors Francesco, Amelia Rose Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 09/10/2021 06:08:30 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/627776 A BAROQUE DENOUEMENT: THE DIRECT INFLUENCE OF THEATRE ON BERNINI’S ARTISTIC WORK By Amelia Francesco ____________________________________________________ Copyright © Amelia Francesco 2017 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF ART In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS WITH A MAJOR IN ART HISTORY In the Graduate College UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2017 Francesco 2 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis titled A Baroque Denouement: The Direct Influence of Theatre on : Bernini’s Artistic Work prepared by Amelia Francesco has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for a master’s degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship.
    [Show full text]