The Artist and the Eternal City: Bernini, Pope Alexander VII, and The Making of Rome

by Loyd Grossman

Overview

This brilliant vignette of seventeenth-century Rome, its Baroque architecture, and its relationship to the Catholic Church brings to life the friendship between a genius and his patron with an ease of writing that is rare in art history.

By 1650, the spiritual and political power of the Catholic Church was shattered. Thanks to the twin blows of the Protestant Reformation and the Thirty Years War, Rome—celebrated both as the Eternal City and Caput Mundi (the head of the world)—had lost its preeminent place in Europe.

Then a new Pope, Alexander VII, fired with religious zeal, political guile, and a mania for creating new architecture, determined to restore the prestige of his church by making Rome the key destination for Europe's intellectual, political, and cultural elite. To help him do so, he enlisted the talents of Gianlorenzo Bernini, already celebrated as the most important living artist—no mean feat in the age of Rubens, Rembrandt, and Velazquez.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643137414
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	08/03/2021
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	62 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Loyd Grossman has been deeply involved in heritage and art history throughout his career. His love of Rome was kindled by his first encounter with the enigmatic, strangely beautiful monument to this relationship between artist and the church: an elephant carrying on obelisk outside Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, just behind the Pantheon. With the elephant as his starting point, The Artist and the Eternal City evokes the intertwined strands of history, power, and art that make up the Baroque.

Editorial Reviews

"Popes, as it turns out, can make good city planners, especially if they have the wisdom to hire a Bernini. This is a compelling tale, beautifully told by a writer who loves Rome as much as he does life itself."

Air Mail

Loyd Grossman makes it clear why Bernini's contemporary, Christopher Wren, was in an agony of envy.

Simon Jenkins

The Artist and the Eternal City makes the case that Bernini and Alexander’s working relationship represented the perfect merger of art and power. Their partnership lasted more than a decade and was the rare ideal match between a cunning diplomat and a talented artist. Without them, Grossman convincingly suggests, Rome may not look the way it does today. It’s hard not to get swept up in Bernini’s work..."

Art News

"This is brilliant work of high scholarship. It is also an accessible companion through the historic, political and artistic world of one of the greatest historic cities. Both are brought to life in the most stunning way—with the seventeenth-century papacy as backdrop. The author spends an enormous amount of time in Italy, and it shows: he has a native knowledge of the Eternal City, with every corner familiar, and each landmark an old friend. Generously, in rich prose, he shares it all with us, the lucky reader.

Charles Spencer

"[The Artist and the Eternal City] is a great introduction to the period, place, and Bernini’s career. Well researched with anecdotes and facts weaved in that will keep you entertained. It’s one of those books that makes you learn without ever feeling the effort of acquiring knowledge. With a ton of illustrations closely following the text, it is a real pleasure to interact with. Though probably best read in Rome, in my opinion the book is also a perfect beach read. And if you’re stuck at home, this is the best way to visit Rome remotely."

Daily Art Magazine

Advance praise from England:

From the Publisher

06/18/2021

Rome famously wasn't built in a day, but 17th-century sculptor, city planner, and polymath Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) did his best to remake it in a lifetime. Former ITV broadcaster Grossman has written an absorbing, if too brief, examination of Bernini and his relationship with Rome, a relationship that allowed Bernini to leave his mark on nearly every corner of the resurgent city. In an age when an artist's fortunes were apt to change overnight with the death of one pope and the election of another, Bernini managed to secure the favor and patronage of 10 successive pontiffs, a stroke of luck that gave him the means to realize even his most grandiose projects. Grossman focuses on Bernini's papal relationships (most importantly with the energetic and equally ambitious Pope Alexander VII) and the development of one of his more curious creations: the Elephant and Obelisk statue in the Piazza della Minerva. The text is richly supplemented by maps, illustrations, and photographs of Bernini's work and concludes with a guided walking tour of Rome's 13 obelisks, several of which have ties to Bernini. VERDICT Some prior familiarity with Bernini and baroque Rome is helpful here. Still, many readers fond of European art and history will find this short volume worthwhile.—Colin Chappell, Anne Arundel Cty. P.L., MD

Library Journal

★ 2021-05-20
A vibrant journey to Baroque Rome.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), acclaimed as the “genius of the Baroque,” is the focus of Grossman’s engaging, sumptuously illustrated history of 17th-century Rome, when grand architectural and artistic projects, commissioned by a succession of popes, transformed the city dramatically. The son of well-regarded sculptor Pietro Bernini, Gian’s talent was evident when he was as young as 11. By the time he was in his 20s, he was a recognized master, and his career soared during the 21 years of the papacy of Urban VIII, when “a flood of papal commissions” made him spectacularly wealthy. Even under Innocent X, Urban’s successor and foe, Bernini managed to navigate political intrigue and turbulence to maintain his status as Rome’s preeminent sculptor and architect. His most important patron, however, was the physically frail Alexander VII. By 1650, after the Thirty Years’ War and the Protestant Reformation, with papal political influence waning and the power of France’s Louis XIV growing, Alexander “turned ever more inward, lavishing more time, attention and money on his projects for Rome.” Public works of art, he believed, reflected his spiritual and diplomatic power, and he saw in the swirling, sensuous, theatrical Baroque a style focused only on “heightening the drama of life.” Grossman portrays Bernini as a self-promoter with a “prodigious” work ethic; a man who could display “arrogance, quick temper, and sharp tongue” but also a tendency to be self-critical. A self-portrait, reproduced in this book, shows “piercing eyes, a dark piratical look, and a sense of tremendous physical and intellectual energy.” He directed that energy toward managing a huge workshop, which, at one time or another, employed “almost every sculptor of talent in Rome.” An added bonus, Grossman’s guide to an Obelisk Walk of Rome, appended to his narrative, highlights many of Bernini’s works.

A fresh look at Rome’s vast grandeur during the 17th century.

Kirkus Reviews