Bernini and the Excesses of Art

by Peterson, Robert

• ISBN13: 9788887700831
• ISBN10: 8887700834
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: Fordham University Press

Summary

"The vitality of Petersson's book is drawn directly from the sculpture of Bernini, an artist now regarded as the true successor of Michelangelo. It differs from others by bringing the reader inside the sculptural process, from genesis to completed form. Frequently Bernini had to solve uniquely interesting problems and his innovative talents never faltered." "As well as presenting the brilliant, flamboyant Bernini, the book simultaneously displays Rome in the throes of its Counter-Reformation renewal, the second birth of the city with the full panoply of its arts, culture, and aberrant activities during Bernini's years in the service of eight popes. In later life he expanded his fame by spending an eventful half year in Paris at the invitation of Louis XIV. The proud and touchy Bernini, then the most celebrated artist in Europe, was in a pitched battle with the arrogant and aggressive French. Yet in Paris as in Rome it is the artistic works that have lasted and are widely known as having redirected the course of European sculpture."--BOOK JACKET. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Robert T. Peterson has taught literature, art, and music at The University of Chicago, Yale University, and most recently, Smith College. He is the author of The Art of Ecstacy: Teresa, Bernini and Cranshaw, and lives in Northhampton, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

The Unruly Macrocosm	p. 11
Bernini's New Rome	p. 21
Joining Statue and Building	p. 39
The Piazza of Piazzas	p. 61
The Bust of a Friend: Historical Preparation	p. 73
Confronting the Marble	p. 87
Scipione Borghese	p. 93
Bernini Abroad	p. 111
Unsettled in Paris	p. 119
The Marble Louis Le Grand	p. 125
Final Touches	p. 137
Bibliographical Note	p. 145
Illustrations	p. 148
Photographic Sources	p. 150
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