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Gian Lorenzo Bernini

1598 – 1680

About

Artist. He was an Italian sculptor, painter, and architect who is credited as the founder of the Baroque style of sculpture. His creations are considered worthy successors of Michelangelo, far outshining other sculptors of his era. At the age of 23, he created the sculpture "The Rape of Proserpina." Among his most notable works are the statues of "David" and "Apollo and Daphne." Located in Santa Maria della Vittoria is his "Ecstasy of Saint Teresa." In the Basilica di Sant'Andrea delle Fratte, he created two angelic sculptures on each side of the altar: "Angel with the Crown of Thorns" and "Angel with the Superscription." He created many fountains, including the Fountain of the Four Rivers. He completed the piazza in front of Saint Peter's Basilica and the neighboring Vatican. He painted at least 150 oil-on-canvas paintings, yet only forty of them have survived to the 21st century. There are over 300 drawings that survived. With numerous affluent commissions and decades of hard labor, he finished many of his expensive plans to make Rome beautiful. He had a long and productive life. He remained active his entire life, having a stroke two weeks before his death. After a very published adulterous, and physically abusive on his part, relationship, he married another woman in an arranged marriage when he was 41 years old, and the couple had eleven children. His detailed biography was written by his son.