BERNINI AND THE ART OF ARCHITECTURE GEB - Tapa dura

The work of Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) virtually defines the Baroque style in the visual arts. The best known example, his Cornaro Chapel of Saint Teresa, is famous for its masterly integration of painting, sculpture, and architecture. But previous discussions have tended to focus on Bernini's sculpture alone. This book is an extensive narrative considering all of his major architectural achievements and the complementary art at these sites. His colonnades at Piazza San Pietro, his huge Baldacchino within Saint Peter's basilica, and his provocative Scala Regia at the Vatican all pulse with visual energy, as does his Four Rivers Fountain in the heart of Rome. These works have become international symbols of the Eternal City and deserve serious attention as masterpieces on a par with Bernini's figural art.

The work of Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) has virtually defined the Baroque style in the visual arts. Bernini's famous Square of St. Peter's and Scala Regia at the Vatican transformed the forecourt of the basilica and the vestibule of the Papal Palace into breathtaking theatrical sets. While Bernini is famous for his masterly integration of painting, sculpture, and architecture in one site -- in the Chapel of St. Teresa, for example -- most specialists tended to focus exclusively on his sculpture. T.A. Marder is the first to create an extensive narrative considering all of Bernini's architectural achievements and his art at these sites, along with an interpretation of their meaning.

Full-color photography specially commissioned for this project shows the sites as they were meant to be seen in the 17th century; these pictures are complemented by relevant drawings and photos of related buildings by other architects. Professor Marder's lively text discusses the political and personal causes that shaped each commission, well as problems of construction, questions of interpretation, and consideration of the sculpture programs in each commission.