Bernini, le sculture borghese

So, we had stopped at the bourgeois statues that constitute the actual springboard in the launch of Bernini toward that central, preeminent position, which he would then maintain for all his life devoted, one might say, to this phenomenon of Roman Baroque art, as its arbiter from the pleasure of Roman art at least until 1680, that is, until the date of his death. Four large-scale marble groups of great importance, commissioned precisely for this purpose from the nephew, from the cardinal nephew of Paul V Borghese, the first, therefore also precisely in sequence of time, it is the one with Aeneas, his father Anchises, and his son Iulus, then subsequently the completion of the Ratto di Proserpina, and then, around the same years, the David and that which is the true masterpiece, the final point, so to speak, of this progression sculpture, of this formal development by Bernini, is Apollo and Daphne. Between 1618 and In 1624 this training is completed, which, according to one of Bernini's earliest biographers, would lead Bernini Filippo Baldinucci, to make marbles pliable, that is, to achieve sensitivity, to accumulate a sensitivity for the qualities of marble that enabled Bernini to work with marble Anything at all. After Filippo Baldinucci drew the Venetaluni, he criticized the drapery. of his statues, as too folded, too pierced, that is, this superabundance of folds, chiaroscuro, this amplification of planes that is typically Baroque, yet he that this was a particular virtue of his chisel, which in this way demonstrated of having overcome the great difficulty, so to speak, of rendering the pliable marble, that is, the ability in constructing figures in space in such a free manner as to give us a sense of softness, For example, meat. We will see an extraordinary detail in the Rape of Proserpina. The first Of these works, we have spoken of the group featuring Aeneas, Anchises, and the young Iulus, where we We clearly see the dependence on the large-scale works of the Late Renaissance; we see Raphael. In the Room of the Fire of Burgo, in this case, Romano should be Giulio Pippi. by Giulio Romano, based on a design by Raphael, but let us also examine the construction of Aeneas's body which in some way, we might say, mirrors the body of Michelangelo's Resurrected Christ Buonarroti in the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, therefore evidently the filiation from these two great models of the Late Renaissance. But let's see, despite their ballistic capabilities, we could say, an impressive exercise in overcoming static difficulties in the construction of a figure superimposed on another figure, thus already the ability to hold together These figures are impressive, but at the same time, we can still see some stiffness. For example, we see a whole series of details a bit overly sweet, a bit cloying, the beards, The hair, which probably depends on the hand of the father Pietro Bernini, who we know collaborated At least to this group, if not to all, we probably can understand this, Bernini is So young, between eighteen and twenty years old, facing such an imposing, such an important commission, not only for the type of commission, for the size of the sculpture, but also for the location where they would have been displayed, for such an important patron as Cipione Vorghese, therefore he asks Help for the father. Here is this dependence on formal rigidity in some way from the father. we already see it completely surpassed in the course of just a few months, at the very moment it sets out to carry out the other, the second group, which is the Rape of Proserpina, where we see a combination, a search for spiral movement, in some way this force centrifuge of this young and terrified girl who is trying to move away from Testone, the spidery creature of Hades dragging her down into the underworld, which probably depends certainly rather than the example of Giambologna, in the Rape of the Sabine, you see in this case the three-dimensional sculpture, on the other side the low relief located at the base of the Abduction of Sabina in the Loggia dei Lanzi. However, the analogy ends here, for then we see something completely new, a completely new creative vigor, a synthesis formal, an innovative invention in capturing the fleeting moment, in the pursuit of precisely rendering the a moment, then an absolutely new expressive surge, a theatricality, an attitude scarcely of staging that will be little typical of Bernini in his mature period here, thus he has already matured his own a form and sensitivity especially for surfaces that make the marble, precisely, foldable. This is the detail I was telling you about, this ability to construct figures as if they were truly soft, tender material—we have already seen the comparison between the Rape of Proserpina by Bernini and that of Pieter Paul Rubens with these fleshy tones, here we see precisely the hand that, rather than the hands sinking into the flesh of this young maiden, which is one of the passages of higher material sensitivity, higher formal attention than the entire history of art, is not We are talking about an important episode for the 17th century, but also an unparalleled episode. In the subsequent sculpture, with an attention to chiaroscuro, an attention precisely to mass, at the volume and these figures that seem to emerge from a dense shadow that evidently make us One must certainly also think of Bernini, whose David is, so to speak, the third in chronological order of sculpture. It is realized that one begins to think comprehensively about movement, and not without reason. I was speaking before Caravaggio because, if we look at this sculpture, we realize how the face so focused, so intent on David is by no means consistent with the modules, the canon classical, not even to seventeenth-century classicism, I remind you, as I have already told you in the introduction the Baroque, which Giovanni Pietro Bellori hardly ever mentions artists such as Bernini come Borromini, because precisely they do not correspond to the selection, the decorum, the classicist choice where there is precisely the will to give a sense of theatricality, of expressiveness pushed to its utmost extremes potential, and then there is another absolutely innovative aspect, which is the choice of timing, the instant to be represented, that which we have defined as the transient, the spring immediately before You're referring to taking photos; in this sense, we've seen several models, especially in Florence. because David is precisely the model, the symbol of rationality that overcomes hubris, but we have seen purely in the great differences, Donatello, the psychological depth, Verrocchio, this more popular in spirit, Michelangelo with this taste, this pursuit of perfection classical, in some way reworked, because we said, for example, that the head and the My hands are too large in comparison to the rest of my body, but beyond all these formal aspects What is interesting is the choice of timing, as both Donatello and Verrocchio depict David. After having already defeated Goliath and already cut off his head, Michelangelo chooses to depict David, who is studying, somehow the enemy is about to hurl his stone. Bernini does something completely different; he portrays neither the before nor the after, but rather The moment during represents the scene in medium stress, the moment of dissolution, and to have the sense Of this furrowed face, so intensely focused, his biographers say that himself, and what he held up to the mirror was Marfeo Marberini, the future Urban VIII, which tells us about the friendship between these two characters who then it will explode with the ascension to the papal throne of Urban VIII, and from that moment on Bernini will become the official artist of the Pontifical Rome, thus a triumph for his art. It must also be said not to mention all the models we have already seen, another fundamental model remains that of Annibale Carracci, in this case, it is evident that the twisting of the body, the positioning, and the reprise in A literal manner is a perfect quotation from Polyphemus as portrayed by Annibale. Carracci in the ceiling of the Galleria Borghese, but here there is something, as we were saying, completely new, how can I say, make it natural, make it everyday in some way, make it Observe David's face, his expression, his expressiveness, his concentration as he stands fishing. this stone. David, who, as we have said, is a perfect subject because he is a subject that corresponds to the profane idea of intelligence, of rationality that overcomes hubris, yet it is Even a biblical figure, therefore perfect within the pontifical context and humanized through these features of the face that remind us precisely of many portraits by Caravaggio that he uses Real people, use yourself in your first phase, but even this attitude of the theatricalization of the scene, precisely the very actual staging, the attempt to bring it to life to this block of marble corresponding to the theatricalization of many artists, we can In some way pre-Baroque, we have seen Correggio, we have seen Guercino, and Lanfranco Among the classicists who were connected with the Carracci school, we have seen Rubens, and we are still arriving at the culmination, so to speak, of this theatricalizing tendency, precisely with Bernini, in a way with such realism, the truth of this character and his expression make the observer if placed on the same level, then the observer who today goes to see in the Porghese gallery this The scene is as if he were watching a real David fishing out the arrow, so he does placing it almost in Goliath's perspective, and finally the perhaps most impressive work of the group Of these four works, the group of Apollo and Daphne, the last work created, is the masterpiece of which even Bernini himself, upon seeing it in his later years, said he would not have been able to do better. in the sense that an impressive virtuosic quality is already attained at this stage what can be seen, for example, in fingers turning into leaves, in hair that turns into turn into leaves, in the tactile sensitivity of surfaces so soft and so reflective in the girl's flesh, just as they are instead rough and coarse in the bark that is already closing, let's say, the legs, striking the legs, and especially in the tendency to represent just that the theatricality of the moment, for example in the glances, in the expressions, Daphne who is horrified the moment he realizes what is happening, and Apollo, who by the way has the same Evidently the fettinatura of the Apollo of Leocares, therefore of the Apollo the Hellenistic Belvedere Torso, which he certainly studied, which leaves him astonished in understanding What's happening and what's happening, we don't know, do we? Mischievous love has thrown a An arrow aimed at Apollo to make him fall in love with Daphne, and an arrow aimed at Daphne so that she would not accept it I am the love of Apollo, therefore she is horrified when he tries to lust after her, to touch her, she pleads Helped by Father Peneus, and Father Peneus, hearing his daughter's invocation, gathered it up and She was transformed into a laurel tree, and she recoiled in horror when she realized it. that the touch, the touch of Apollo is transforming it into something alive, animated yet vegetal The expressive rendering of this theatrical moment is impressive in quality, something akin to Exceptional. Bernini's great talents will find their absolute triumph through These works, and then, precisely, the ascent to the papal throne of Urban VIII, Urban VIII so he will use it in the most important papal construction sites for colossal works, as we will see. Urban VIII, who was already on familiar terms as Cardinal Maffeo Barberini with Bernini. For example We precisely know that it was Urban VIII who wrote the couplet you see above. Whoever loves, follows the fleeing one, delights in the form, the hand of the leaf, fills, Bacchus, or gathers bitter things it simply means that whoever loves and pursues the fleeting pleasures of beauty fills their hand with The fruit and leaves remain, pick it with its bitter berries; evidently, it is clear that the idea of vanitas, those who pursue physical beauty, superficial beauty but ends up with nothing to show, we might say today. Interesting is the fact that this couplet so learned, this Latin couplet accompanies Bernini's sculpture, for it yields somewhat to great rapport that Bernini had not only with Scipione Borghese, who was his patron, but also with this moment, but also precisely with the future Pope Barberini, who precisely by virtue of this great friendship with the artist's knowledge, then he will use it in a very important series from the workshops. These four groups of sculptors are probably the four works that mark Bernini's great masterpiece, which I repeat was created when he was between 24 and 26 years old, is still the work of an extremely young artist. point will truly become the most important artist; the arbiter of taste in Roman Baroque will have a only moment of utmost flexibility for political reasons and not formal, but then throughout his entire Vita will also produce during that period, so to speak, when she slightly falls out of favor with the Pope. will produce exceptional works capable of surpassing one masterpiece after another, moving forward, surpassing if you were creating an artistic context of astonishing richness by bringing together techniques diverse colors, different materials, different sensitivities, different stories. In the Next lesson, we will specifically deal with the Barberini works, that is, the works created by Bernini. under the pontificate of Urban VIII, of whom we shall incidentally mention here, he had the opportunity to visit the private rooms, a true friend, and we'll see what happens, what this friendship produces between us Pope Urban VIII and Bernini.