Customer Reviews

Bernini: Genius of the Baroque

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a beautiful book. The works are shown from different angles,instead of just one frontal photo, so the reader gets the details of the work, with a good accompanying text. I accidently discovered this sculptor, and findto my surprise that some of his work is more appealing than some of the more famous artists of this genre. There is a great deal of detail, in fact, a whole chapter devoted to his fountains, particularly,The Fountains of the 4 rivers. I wish I had this book before I went to Rome and saw it in person. Any lover of sculpture will not be dissapointed with this purchase.

Charles Avery does an excellent job summarizing Gian Lorenzo Bernini's life and works. This is probably the best introduction to Bernini available as a starting point -- there are many other books that give more exhaustive analysis, text, photographs and diagrams. As a starter, you will have chosen the best with this book.

From June to December 1976 I was a student on the Florida State University study program "a Firenze", which totally changed my life and world view, causing me to return almost ten times since 1976. Bernini is my favorite Baroque sculptor.

This is a beautiful book, however I did not scroll all the way down to see that it was printed in German. I have returned it for an English version.

This is a fine book about Bernini's sculpture. It has multiple photos of the important works. It groups sculptures into chapters by subject matter (busts, mystic religious, mythological, fountains, etc.) which makes sense. The text is interesting, and includes quotes from Bernini's contemporary Baldinucci and others. Avery places heavy emphasis on antecedents that may have influenced Bernini's designs. There is a fascinating chapter about Bernini's methods of sculpting. His fountains are described and illustrated in detail. His architecture is also covered.

The book badly needs a biographical summary and chronology to assist the reader. Avery's chapter grouping by subject matter means that the sequence of events jump back and forth confusingly. Dates of composition are not always provided.

Finn's photos are very good and taken from well-chosen angles. But some are not as sharp as one would like for such a work. Additionally, some sculpture photos have so little depth-of-field that key details are not even in focus--David's head, on page 67, for example.

Nevertheless, I recommend this book highly.

Avery is rather too coy and protective of his hero. There is the briefest and most obscure discussion of Bernini's failed campanile on Saint Peter's. It is simply dismissed, without details or illustrations, with "allegations of incompetence...ill-founded". There is a delicate discussion, in the final chapter, of the "truly regrettable episode" in which he attempted to murder his brother and dispatched his servant to slash-attack his mistress. Regrettable indeed.

I highly recommend, in addition to this book, Simon Schama's outstanding DVD series "The Power of Art"-- his program on Bernini is magnificent.

I wish I could offer something more, but since the book was in German rather than English, I can only say the pictures were beautiful. I do hope Amazon will send me the English version soon!