Gian Lorenzo Bernini Research Paper

Gian Lorenzo Bernini is without question one of if not the greatest sculptor is human history and with works such as “Apollo and Daphne” it’s easy to understand how deserving he is of that title. Bernini is revered in the art world for his ability to capture the climax of a story in stone like no other. His works are carved from marble and crafted to the point of truly maddening realism. In his Apollo and Daphne work he accomplished this high point of drama by showing the two at the exact moment when Apollo has finally caught Daphne who has only just started to turn into a tree. Daphne’s hands are only just starting to sprout branches and leaves with her toes already starting to take root into the ground. This all happening while the love sick Apollo is shown still giving chase with his left hand finally grasping Daphne’s skin that has already started to be replaced by bark. Even today with the invention of film and photography moments like this are not something that can be so easily captured. Being able to capture such a brief and sublime moment of drama so perfectly, and in stone no less is what has made …show more content…
At the age of eight he would join his father, a Florentine sculptor, on a work related visit to Rome. While in Rome his talent was soon recognized by other artist and even the pope at the time, Pope Paul V. Ironically Bernini would eventually be the artist commissioned to sculpt Pope Paul V’s bust. Scipione Borghese, a family member of Pope Paul V and avid art collector also took a strong interest in Bernini. Borghese would eventually commission Bernini to create the four life sized sculptures that would forever cement his name in history. In chronological order they are titled Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius (1619), The Rape of Proserpina (1621–1622), Apollo and Daphne (1622–1625), and David