Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini) (December 7, 1598 – November 28, 1680), who worked chiefly in Rome, was the pre-eminent baroque artist. Eminent as a sculptor and architect, he was also a painter, draftsman, designer of stage sets, fireworks displays, and funeral trappings.

Bernini's Fountains in Rome

True to the decorative dynamism of baroque, Roman fountains, part public works and part Papal monuments, were among his most gifted creations. Bernini's fountains was the Fountain of the Triton (1640). The Fountain of the Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi) (1648-1651)http://www.thais.it/scultura/image/sch00351.htm in the Piazza Navona is a masterpiece of spectacle and political allegory. One anecdote is that of the Bernini's river gods, shields his gaze in horror from at the adjacent facade of Sant'Agnese in Agony church designed by his equally talented, but less politically successful, rival Francesco Borromini.

Related Topics:
Fountain of the Triton - Fountain of the Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi) - 1648 - 1651 - Piazza Navona - Sant'Agnese in Agony - Francesco Borromini

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