FREE ESSAY ON BERNINI

BERNINI

The writer of history must combine several different kinds of statements in his account.
First of all, there will be some statement upon which all research scholars will pretty
well agree. Second, there will be statements that not all historians accept, but which
the writer himself/herself has reason to believe are true. Third, there will be some
statements that are needed to fill out the account and make a smooth story, even though
they deal with matters about which nobody knows very much. Conscientious writers will
label these guesses with words such as probably, or perhaps; but to the reader they are
all part of the story. There is no way to get out of putting in some of this information
if the story is to be smooth. That is why three completely honest historians may give a
very different picture of the same period or set of events. A historian is a human being.
He/she loves and hates, just as other men/women do. He/she has his/her own beliefs,
values, attitudes, opinions, fears, hopes, just as others do. The greatest historians try
and keep their own prejudices and attitudes away from their writing. Of three authors
that describe Bernini's magnificent works, Franco Borsi, Michael Kitson, and Robert
Wallace, only Kitson conveys his own opinionated writings to the reader. Although Borsi
and Wallace have a few areas where they let their opinions be known, they put their
beliefs aside and write the accounts of Bernini unprejudicely. Now, the analyazation of
the writers shall begin.
Franco Borsi's book entitled BERNINI, has the most in depth and detailed coverage of
Bernini's life, background, and sculpture. Borsi's book praises Bernini as the god of all
sculpture and architectural works. The majority of the historian's text is in regard to
Bernini' s work in Vatican City. Borsi's opinion is that the work Bernini did on
restructuring the facade of St. Peter's Basilica had to have been the greatest of his
works. He remarks that, the immensity of the building is not at first apparent due to its
balanced proportions and the monumental size of all the works of art it contains. Bernini
designed a piazza in the form of an ellipse, bordered by a quadruple colonnade forming a
portico wide enough to let carriages pass. The foci of the ellipse are indicated by
marble disks on each side of the two fountains; standing on either of these disks you can
see only one row of columns, instead of four. Two wings link the colonnades to the
basilica: the one on the right ends at Scala Regia and the one on the left ends at the
Arco delle Campane. Franco indicates that having this piazza allows the basilica to be
even more ominous and capture all that enter through the gates into a state of total awe,
before even entering the basilica. Borsi also remarks about the lavish decorations that
Bernini provided within and the fact that the basilica owes much of its character to the
contributions of Bernini. Here he provides concrete historical references to all the many
sculptures Bernini created in the basilica, including the transept crossing, the ornate
baldacchio above the site of St. Peter's tomb, Cathedra Petri, and many more. Franco
Borsi wrote very
factual non-opinionated view of Bernini's life and works. On the other hand, Wallace
added a little more opinion to his writing, yet stayed within reasonable confines. In
Wallace's The World of Bernini, the uses of the words probably and perhaps signify that
the history that he does not know, he is filling in with his own educated opinion of what
might have been so. Wallace uses background information about sculpture to help the
reader understand just how complicated and advanced Bernini's techniques were. Wallace
also devotes most of his book to one area of Bernini's time; his sculpture. His writing
indicates that Wallace was deeply enthralled with the magnitude of Bernini's talent to
portray emotion and movement. One example, as Wallace points out, is that of the
sculpture of David. Wallace writes that, for his epic statue of the Biblical hero David,
which he conceived and executed in just seven months, Bernini carved a youthful warrior,
standing poised over his castoff harp and armor and grimacing with determination. David's
every muscle is tensed at the instant before he flings the fatal stone at an unseen
Goliath, whose presence Bernini effectively suggests somewhere behind and above the
viewer. Wallace states that Bernini's total production of portrait busts is still not
definitely known whereas Borsi stated that there were forty two that he had created. Just
as this minor conflicting account occurred, so did many others throughout the two books.
Although this may seem insignificant, it would make the reader unsure of the true
historical past of Bernini. To add to this, Michael Kitson wrote The Age of the Baroque,
where he most definitely divulges his opinion unto the reader. Kitson devoted most of his
writing to his opinion that, without a doubt the most versatile master of illusionism was
Bernini. Kitson remarked about the fact that Bernini described all his most prize details
of how to make a statue more realistic, passionate, in depth, or appearing to be moving,
in his journal. Bernini described how in order to represent the darkness around one's
eye, it is necessary to deepen the marble in that place where it is dark in order to
represent the effect of that color, and therefore make up by skill, as it were, the
imperfection of the art of sculpture, which is unable to give color to objects. This
effect can be seen on Bernini's David and many of his other statues. Kitson points out
that another way illusionism was used to enhance the vividness of a work of art was
through the devices designed to associate it with the real world of the spectator. For
example, Bernini's David was one of the first true baroque statues, for its whole stance
and gaze suggest movement beyond the limits of the sculpture itself. Wallace and Borsi
also seem to agree with this point, and state it in their books. The popular view of the
Baroque is right in this respect: that surprise and spectacle play an important part in
its total effect. Although some points throughout their stories may differ, Borsi,
Wallace, and Kitson, all agree that Bernini' s art was and is the most fantastical
display of emotion and faith by means of sculpture, that exists in the world.
Due to the fact that I have previously researched Bernini simply for enjoyment purposes,
I feel that Robert Wallace wrote the most bona fide account (from a historical point of
view)of Bernini's life. Although he did subtly incorporate some of his own conjectures
towards Bernini's life, I believe that that is what made the story more interesting and
realistic. If the story was straight facts and dates the reader would lose interest
quickly. Wallace wrote the facts with a little extra, and that is what makes him a
historian. He shows that he is a human being and rather than being mechanical, he has
feelings and emotions about Bernini's sculpture. If I were to write an account of
Bernini's life, I would do it exactly the same as Robert Wallace who wrote The World of
Bernini .
By correct definition, a historian is a writer of histories or an expert in history. But
I tend to think there is more to the job. I think a historian has to be able to put
feeling and emotion into the book to make the history come alive. Franco Borsi, Robert
Wallace, and Michael Kitson, have all written detailed accounts of the life of the
breath-taking Bernini. They all agree that Bernini was and is the true master of baroque
art. To many historians, baroque marks a prolongation of Italian Renaissance realism and
pictoralism, though classic calm and purity are not evident in Bernini's major works.
Bernini's masterful way in being able to catch the moment just before his action
definitely places him as the expert of the intense expression of what was the baroque
period.