Bernini is to me, the greatest sculpture of the Baroque period (and perhaps just the best ever!). His carvings are beyond lifelike (he was carving in HD!), and have a inner-glow and realism that I haven’t seen in other statues. When we were in Italy, I remember just staring at the Bernini’s in the Borghese Museum with such awe and reverence that I had to be dragged away from them (I remember saying: “Do you think the guards would notice if I put it under my coat!?”) My particular favorite, by only a slim margin is Truth (“Truth Unveiled by Time”). Bernini did this sculpture for himself and it shows his amazing ability to blend multiple carving techniques and seamlessly blend unfinished and finished surfaces together to show off the contrast and give a ‘living texture’ to the whole piece. It’s not his most famous piece, but it’s certainly one of his most engaging.
(Image swiped from Yahoo Image Gallery)
If you want to learn more, Wikipedia Link is here.
Enjoy!
Ps: to my friends on the East Coast, The Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art) in New York has a Bernini on display – See it, it’s worth it!
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