Bernini, GIOVANNI LORENZO

Bernini, GIOVANNI LORENZO, sculptor, architect, and painter, was born at Naples in 1598. He early devoted himself to sculpture, and in his eighteenth year finished his admired group of Apollo and Daphne, which gave promise of greater excellence than was afterwards realised by the artist. Pope Urban VIII. employed him to produce designs for the embellishment of St Peter's at Rome, and his greatest achievement in architecture is its colossal colonnade. In 1663 he accepted the flattering invitation of Louis XIV., and travelled to Paris with great pomp. In Paris he resided above eight months; but his design for the Louvre being deemed inferior to Perrault's, he confined himself entirely to sculpture. His visit, however, proved a highly remunerative one. Richly laden with gifts, he returned to Rome, where he died, November 28, 1680, leaving a fortune of £100,000 to his children. Besides his works in sculpture, Bernini also left numerous paintings behind him. Few artists have been so much admired and rewarded during their lifetime as Bernini; but time has rather subtracted from than added to his fame.