videos + essays

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Cathedra Petri (Chair of Saint Peter)
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Cathedra Petri (Chair of Saint Peter)

Did Peter sit here? Dizzying but unified, light and gold glorify this sacred place.

How to recognize Baroque art
How to recognize Baroque art

Painted and sculpted bodies move into our space. Everything feels like it’s in motion, including the light.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, <em>Pluto and Proserpina</em> (or <em>The Rape of Proserpina</em>)
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Pluto and Proserpina (or The Rape of Proserpina)

Pluto hoists up Proserpina. She resists, pushing him away. Their desires clash, creating a dynamic composition.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, <em>Bust of Medusa</em>
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Bust of Medusa

She’s a monster, but in this poignant marble bust, Medusa becomes a victim of her own plight.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Saint Peter’s Square
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Saint Peter’s Square

Central to the Counter Reformation, Bernini’s double colonnades activate Saint Peter’s and reach out into the city.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, <em>Apollo and Daphne</em>
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Apollo and Daphne

Skin transforms into bark, limbs sprout branches, and stone softens into flesh. What a perfect subject for Bernini.

Saint Peter’s Basilica
Saint Peter’s Basilica

The greatest minds of the High Renaissance worked on this vast church. Construction took more than a century.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Sant’Andrea al Quirinale, Rome
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Sant’Andrea al Quirinale, Rome

The giant doorway to this church disguises how small it is. Inside, a lantern leads the eye up and up. Pure theatre!

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, <em>Ecstasy of Saint Teresa</em>
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Gasp! Stone floats and light pours down from—where, exactly? Bernini creates a theatre for spiritual experience.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Baldacchino, Saint Peter’s
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Baldacchino, Saint Peter’s

Over 60 feet tall, this daunting bronze canopy is part architecture, part sculpture—and part beehive.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, <em>David</em>
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, David

Duck! This slingshot may never fire, but Bernini fools us. We can feel David gathering strength to battle Goliath.