The Rome IndexBernini in Rome
One artist shaped more of Rome's public space than any other — a guide to his work.
Who Bernini was
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) was the dominant figure in Roman art and architecture for over fifty years — sculptor, architect, painter, and theatre designer who effectively worked for every pope from Paul V to Clement X. His productivity was extraordinary: Apollo and Daphne was carved when he was 24.
The sculptures
Galleria Borghese holds his greatest concentration: Apollo and Daphne, The Rape of Proserpina, David, and Aeneas and Anchises — all early works that established his reputation. The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa at Santa Maria della Vittoria is his most theatrically complex later work.
The public spaces
The Piazza Navona Fountain of the Four Rivers. The colonnade of St Peter's Square. The Triton Fountain at Piazza Barberini. The elephant obelisk at Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Bernini's fingerprints are on more of Rome's public life than any other single artist.