The Works

The oeuvre of Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), the defining figure of the Italian baroque, includes ca. 100 extant works cast in bronze and six complex multi-component bronze projects in the Basilica of St. Peter's: the Baldacchino with monumental twisted columns, the Cathedra Petri with four over-life-size figures, the tombs of popes Urban VIII and Alexander VII, 26 small crucifixes and six sets of six candlesticks for 26 of the basilica's altars, and a temple structure and gilt bronze angels in the Chapel of the Sacrament. Artist to eight consecutive popes, Bernini modelled many of their portraits, subsequently carved in marble and often cast multiple times in bronze. This partial list of bronzes conveys the undisputed centrality of these works to Bernini's oeuvre and in the history of art. Yet, of all of Bernini's works in diverse media, those cast in bronze by specialist founders have been the most neglected by art historians from the point of view of their manufacture.