In 1637, Francesco Borromini designed and began building an oratory – a place for public worship and musical performances – for the followers of St. Phillip Neri, known as the “Filippini.” The façade of this oratory is another of Borromini’s visionary architectural projects with its curved plan and unorthodox sculptural elements. 

The cloister and façade of the church complex San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (better known in Rome as “San Carlino”) are two of the most beautiful and revolutionary aspects of Borromini’s design for this project. 

The church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1634) - better known to the Romans as San Carlino (“little St. Charles”) due to its small size - is one of the most revolutionary in the history of art and introduces the new architectural vision of a Baroque genius named Francesco Borromini.

Francesco Borromini is celebrated as the greatest architectural genius of the Baroque age. This podcast shall examine his life, career, and rivalry with the great Gian Lorenzo Bernini. 

On November 28, 1680,  the 82-year-old Bernini passed away. His spectacular career was nearly 70 years long, during which he worked for 8 different popes. Only Michelangelo surpassed him in terms of lifespan and papal patrons! This podcast looks back on Bernini’s career, his rather surprisingly modest tomb, and the great legacy that he left behind.

In 1672, Gian Lorenzo began the creation of the most spectacular papal tomb monument in St. Peter’s Basilica – the “Tomb of Pope Alexander VII.” Located in the southern transept arm of the church, the monument depicts a pious figure of the pope kneeling in prayer, surrounded by four massive marble statues representing the virtues of Charity, Truth, Prudence, and Justice. But the most amazing aspect of the tomb is the stone drapery that wraps around the figures and from which a winged figure of death emerges!

Carved in the last decade of Bernini’s life, the monument to Blessed Ludovica Albertoni shows that Bernini had not lost his touch in his later years. As sensual and beautiful as his more celebrated earlier works such as “Apollo and Daphne” or “Ecstasy of St. Teresa,” the “Blassed Ludovica Albertoni” depicts the mystic in an ecstatic state of union with God.

In 1669, at the age of 71, Gian Lorenzo Bernini was commissioned by Pope Clemet IX to renovate the most important pilgrimage bridge in Rome, the Ponte Sant’Angelo. Bernini planned on installing 10 spectacular statues of angels holding the instruments of the passion, only two of which were ultimately carved by Bernini.

Completed in 1667 and located in front of the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome, Italy, Bernini’s “Elephant” is a powerful symbol combining Egyptian lore and Roman power. The elephant was designed as an imaginative base for the ancient Egyptian obelisk from the 6th century BCE.

From why the façade of San Lorenzo was never completed, to the use of the “golden ratio” in the Medici Palace, to the speed of Caravaggio’s painting technique and his use of the camera obscura, to future podcasts on Sofonisba Anguissola and Artemisia Gentileschi,  to why Bramante is considered the first High Renaissance architect, and much, much more - this episode answers the very questions that you ask me about the great art, artists and history of the Italian Renaissance!