Trinity Rome Live

Bernini's Architecture
,

Some of our favorite Bernini works
,

Bernini could sculpt a bust...
,

BERNINI AND HIS WORLD
The course will focus on the art of Gianlorenzo Bernini’s oeuvre in the context of late-sixteenth and seventeenth-century Italian art and society. Students will investigate the artistic evolution of the sculptor/architect, the influence he exerted on his contemporaries, the legacy he left to posterity, as well as the literary and biographical texts that shaped the image of the artist as we have come to know him. The weekly lectures will be complemented by weekly on-site visits to museums (such as the Borghese Gallery and the Palazzo Barberini), churches (such as Sant’ Andrea al Quirinale and St. Peter’s Basilica) and sites usually inaccessible to general visitor (such as the Oratorio del Gonfalone, the Casino Rospigliosi and the archives of the Accademia di San Luca)/ The seminar component of the course consists of reports and on-site presentations by the students.
In addition to the regular classes, students visit the marble quarries in Carrera (from where Michelangelo and Bernini got their marble) and the Nicoli sculpture studio. While at the former site the class will be to see how marble is quarried and transported, at the latter venue students will learn about various types of marble used by artists to this day, sculpting tools and techniques, and sculpture reproduction on various scales from original plaster models. On the way back to Rome, students will spend one night in the town of Orvieto where they will see Francesco Mochi’s famous sculpture ensemble The Archangel Gabriel and Virgin Mary as well as the impressive Baroque sculpture collection in the Church of Sant’Agostino, formerly located in the Orvieto cathedral. Prerequisite: One course in Art History; Course Trip: Carrara