Where can you see Gian Lorenzo Bernini in Rome?

At the Galleria Borghese: Apollo and Daphne, The Rape of Proserpina and David. At Santa Maria della Vittoria: The Ecstasy of St Teresa. At St Peter's Basilica: The Baldachin. At Piazza Navona: The Fountain of the Four Rivers. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

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

Apollo and Daphne, of 1622 to 1625, at the Galleria Borghese. The nymph turns into a laurel tree at the moment the god catches her. Bark closes over her leg and leaves spring from her fingers, thin enough for the light to pass.

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 Apollo and Daphne in his early twenties. Designed St Peter's Square and the canopy over its altar. Made the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona. Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian sculptor, of the Baroque.

Sculptor, 1598 to 1680

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

No artist ever shaped a city as Bernini shaped Rome. He worked for eight popes over sixty years, and you cannot walk for ten minutes in the centre without meeting him.

Born: 1598, Naples, Italy
Died: 1680, Rome, Italy
Movement: Baroque
In Rome: 6 works in 4 museums

Where to see Gian Lorenzo Bernini in Rome

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

Galleria Borghese3 works

Apollo and Daphne
1622 to 1625
The nymph turns into a laurel tree at the moment the god catches her. Bark closes over her leg and leaves spring from her fingers, thin enough for the light to pass.
The Rape of Proserpina
1621 to 1622
Pluto carries Proserpina down to the underworld. His fingers sink into her thigh as if the marble were flesh.
David
1623 to 1624
David in the act of throwing, biting his lip. The face is said to be Bernini's own.

Santa Maria della Vittoria1 work

The Ecstasy of St Teresa
1647 to 1652
The saint swoons as an angel raises a golden arrow, lit by a hidden window, while the family who paid for the chapel look on from boxes at the sides like an audience. Free to see.

St Peter's Basilica1 work

The Baldachin
1623 to 1634
The bronze canopy on four twisted columns over the high altar and the tomb of St Peter, as tall as a palace.

Piazza Navona1 work

The Fountain of the Four Rivers
1651
Four river gods round a hollow rock that carries an obelisk. In the open air, at any hour, for nothing.

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 Apollo and Daphne in his early twenties
Designed St Peter's Square and the canopy over its altar
Made the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona

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