YOU’D THINK THE ARTIST WHO SCULPTED the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona, the Triton in the Piazza Barberini, and Saint Peter’s flamboyant altar would have been a wild man. But actually Gian Lorenzo Bernini took on his masterpiece work like a monk, sculpting seven hours a day, up until his death at eighty-one. He poured all his passion into his creations—sculptures of figures caught in theatrical moments that absolutely define baroque Rome.
Bernini did have one enticing affair, with Constanza Bonarelli, the wife of one of his assistants. Things heated up when Constanza started to fool around with Bernini’s younger brother. Bernini flew into a violent rage, threatening to throw acid on Constanza’s face. Then he turned to beating up that younger brother, until the Pope stepped in to put a stop to the whole deal. Bernini’s Constanza bust is in the Bargello in Florence. With her lips slightly parted and blouse unbuttoned, it seems as though she was sculpted just a moment before she and Bernini jumped into bed for a good time.
Bernini calmed down after Constanza, married at forty-one, and fathered eleven kids. His daily routine was morning mass at the Gesu, work-work-work, and then back to church where he prayed with the Jesuits.
Unlike Michelangelo’s sculptures (such as the Pieta and David) that have a powerful meditative style, Bernini’s creations seem to be formed in wax. Their robes flow, they laugh, scream, sigh, and pulse with vitality.
On the Ponte Sant’Angelo you’ll be surrounded by the dramatic angels he designed. And in these sculptures, you’ll see how Bernini captures women in climactic moments…literally:
It looks like the Carmelite Spanish nun Bernini placed in a stage set altar is having quite an “ecstasy” as an angel pierces her with a golden shaft.
Saint Teresa had loads of mystical visions, and wrote that this piercing left her “on fire with the love of God” and “The pain was so great that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain that I could not wish to be rid of it.” Clearly, Bernini’s genius took Teresa’s account and ran with it.
Here the mystic Ludovica is sprawled out in bed with her head thrown back as she clutches her breast. Some say she’s in her death throes, but since she has her shoes on, others believe Bernini caught her in a private, earth-shattering, “seeing the Divine” pose. It’s best to visit the church in the morning when sunlight streams over Ludovica from the cupola above.
Visit The Galleria Borghese, a splendid museum to see these Bernini masterpieces:
The virgin water nymph manages a fantastic escape from Apollo by transforming into a laurel tree before your eyes. Her hair and fingertips become leaves, her feet and ankles the tree trunk.
A teardrop runs down Proserpina’s face as she smushes her hand into Pluto’s chin, fighting him off with a heaven-help-me look. Pluto scoops her up and gets a firm grab on her thigh. The three-headed barking dog adds to the drama.
This is Bernini’s version of the Greek myth that told how Pluto, God of the Underworld, got wowed by the beautiful Goddess of Vegetation he saw picking flowers in a field, and swooped up to kidnap her.
Other fabulous women in the Borghese are:
Here’s Pauline Bonaparte (Napoleon’s sister) posed regally as the nude goddess. Pauline came to Rome as a ravishing twenty-three-year-old widow, won the heart of Prince Borghese, married him, and became mistress of the Villa. It caused quite a scandal when Pauline stripped to model for the sculptor Canova, and her prince husband kept this statue hidden away while he was alive. Pauline’s only comment on the affair was, “The room was well heated.” Famously vain woman that she was, Pauline was also known to have used her servants as footstools and liked to have, in her words, “a large Negro” carry her to her bath.
Painted by Titian when he was just twenty-five for a Venetian nobleman’s marriage, the Venuses here are named differently from what you’d expect. The Profane Venus is in proper Renaissance dress, drawing a pot of gold to her side, signifying “fleeting earthly happiness.” The Sacred Venus is naked, holding an eternal flame, meaning “eternal happiness in heaven.” She wears only her magic girdle, which gave her the power to attract her many lovers.
Galleria Borghese: 8:30-7:30, closed Monday, 06 841 3979 (www.galleriaborghese.it)
Golden Day: Plan on a picnic in the Borghese Gardens before or after your visit to the Galleria Borghese. You can gather your own goodies at an alimenatri, deli—there are good places near Campo dei Fiori, such as Roscioli (Via dei Chiavari 34, www.salumeriaroscioli.com), or to have it all done for you, go to GiNa, right near the entrance to the Borghese Gardens, where they provide you with picnic baskets and a delicious selection of panini and salads. (Via San Sebastianello 7/A, 06 678 0251, www.ginaroma.com)
TIP: Reservations for the Galleria Borghese are a must; you can make them easily by phone or online. This turns out to be a good thing, because you get to browse without crowds.
RECOMMENDED READING
Bernini’s Beloved: A Portrait of Costanza Piccolomini by Sarah McPhee