Bernini is a name less well-known to most than the likes of Da Vinci or Michelangelo or Caravaggio but the artist was a great genius and multi-talented innovator who created extraordinary things. As an architect, he was impossibly prolific, came to be one of the most important architects of the 17th century, and was the one who gave us St Peter’s Square in Rome as well as the interior decoration of the Basilica, a number of Rome’s most elegant palazzi, and many other great works.
As a sculptor, he was the leading artist of his time and is credited as the one who initiated the Baroque style. However, in this writer’s opinion, it was his ability to breath life into stone that most recommends his work. Those who want to admire the incredible power and lifelike quality of his sculptures as well as his grand and impressive architectural feats should book a vacation rental in Rome and discover wonders like his sculpture, the Abduction of Proserpina in the Galleria Borghese.
