THE GIANTS OF THE BAROQUE

In the first half of the seventeenth century the style that appeared in Rome would dominate European taste for the next one hundred years: the Baroque. Among the painters, sculptors, and architects of the Roman Baroque, six were particularly influential: Annnibale and Agostino Carracci, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Gian-Lorenzo Bernini, Pietro da Cortona and Francesco Borromini. Their careers were propelled by popes and cardinals born into powerful families: the Farnese, Borghese, Pamphilj, Barberini, and Chigi. These five lectures will look at the works of these six artists and their relationships with their patrons.

BERNINI: STONE INTO FLESH

Mythological creatures cavorting in water, saints transverberating in an ecstasy of draperies, marble nymphs metamorphosing in front of our own eyes: Bernini’s contribution to that second population of Rome made of marble and stone does not stop marvelling us. Bernini’s sculptures reflect his conception of the visual arts: unity is the result of variety and harmony of proportions is achieved by movement.