Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680)
• Was an Italian sculptor, painter and architect.
• Bernini was born in Naples to Angelica Galante, a Neapolitan, and Mannerist sculptor Pietro Bernini.
• He was the sixth of their thirteen children.
• He was "recognized as a prodigy when he was only eight years old, he was consistently encouraged by his father.
• While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his age, credited with creating the Baroque style of sculpture.
• As one scholar has commented, "What Shakespeare is to drama, Bernini may be to sculpture: the first pan-European sculptor.
• In addition, he was a painter (mostly small canvases in oil) and a man of the theater: he wrote, directed and acted in plays.
• He produced designs as well for a wide variety of decorative art objects including lamps, tables, mirrors, and even coaches.
