Where can you see Gian Lorenzo Bernini in London?

At the Victoria and Albert Museum: Neptune and Triton. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

What is Gian Lorenzo Bernini's most famous work in London?

Neptune and Triton, of 1622 to 1623, at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The sea god strides forward driving his trident down, his cloak blown out behind him, with a triton blowing a shell between his legs. It was made to stand above a pool and to be seen from below.

When and where was Gian Lorenzo Bernini born?

On 7 December 1598, at Naples, Italy. Gian Lorenzo Bernini died on 28 November 1680, at Rome, Italy, aged about 82.

What is Gian Lorenzo Bernini known for?

Carved in 1622 and 1623 for the garden of the Villa Montalto in Rome. Sir Joshua Reynolds bought it in 1786. Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian sculptor, of the Baroque.

Sculptor, 1598 to 1680

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Bernini's sculpture never left Rome, with one exception. It stood over a fishpond in a cardinal's garden, was bought by an English painter, and has been in London since 1786.

Born: 1598, Naples, Italy
Died: 1680, Rome, Italy
Movement: Baroque
In London: 1 work in 1 museum

Where to see Gian Lorenzo Bernini in London

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

Victoria and Albert Museum1 work

Neptune and Triton
1622 to 1623
The sea god strides forward driving his trident down, his cloak blown out behind him, with a triton blowing a shell between his legs. It was made to stand above a pool and to be seen from below.

The life of Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Bernini was born in Naples in 1598, the son of a sculptor, and was brought to Rome as a child. He was a prodigy. Cardinal Scipione Borghese gave him his first great commissions when he was barely twenty, and the four groups he carved for the cardinal are still in the villa they were made for.

Under Pope Urban VIII he became the architect of St Peter's, and gave the basilica its bronze canopy and later its square. He designed fountains, chapels, tombs and stage sets. He died in Rome in 1680 and is buried in Santa Maria Maggiore.

What to know

Carved in 1622 and 1623 for the garden of the Villa Montalto in Rome
Sir Joshua Reynolds bought it in 1786

Born: 7 December 1598, Naples, Italy
Died: 28 November 1680, Rome, Italy

Gian Lorenzo Bernini: common questions

Where can you see Gian Lorenzo Bernini in London?: At the Victoria and Albert Museum: Neptune and Triton. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Gian Lorenzo Bernini's most famous work in London?: Neptune and Triton, of 1622 to 1623, at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The sea god strides forward driving his trident down, his cloak blown out behind him, with a triton blowing a shell between his legs. It was made to stand above a pool and to be seen from below.
When and where was Gian Lorenzo Bernini born?: On 7 December 1598, at Naples, Italy. Gian Lorenzo Bernini died on 28 November 1680, at Rome, Italy, aged about 82.
What is Gian Lorenzo Bernini known for?: Carved in 1622 and 1623 for the garden of the Villa Montalto in Rome. Sir Joshua Reynolds bought it in 1786. Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian sculptor, of the Baroque.