Bernini

Description

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) was the greatest and most influential sculptor of his age. Endlessly inventive and gifted with extraordinary skill, he virtually created the Baroque style. In his religious sculptures he excelled at capturing movement and extreme emotion, uniting figures with their setting to create a single conception of overwhelming intensity that perfectly expressed the fervour of Counter-Reformation Rome. Intensity and drama also characterize his remarkable portraits and his world-famous Roman fountains.

Rudolf Wittkower’s classic monograph and catalogue raisonné has been the standard established work on Bernini since 1955. It is now available in an updated and expanded edition. The concise but masterly survey provides an authoritative introduction to Bernini’s work, while the full catalogue gives detailed, scholarly and up-to-date information on his complete oeuvre.

Rudolf Wittkower was one of the most distinguished art historians of the twentieth century.

‘First published in 1955, this volume has never been topped for its clarity of discourse or the stunning beauty of its reproductions. It is the black and white photographs of Bernini’s breathtaking sculpture that best capture the timeless wonder of their precision and vitality.’ (Booklist)

‘Wittkower’s Bernini rightly enjoys almost canonical status among studies of the artist and his age, as an elegant survey which provides deep insight and rests lightly on profound scholarship.’ (Burlington Magazine)