Angel with the Scourge

1665

A trip to Paris for Louis XIV

Under pressure from the French court and Pope Alexander VII, Rome's foremost artist travelled to Paris, where Louis XIV needed an architect to complete the Louvre, and stayed until mid-October; the king assigned Paul Fréart de Chantelou as his companion and translator, and Chantelou kept a detailed journal of the visit.

April – October 1665

Parisian fame and the court's displeasure

Admiring crowds followed Bernini through the streets of Paris, and he compared his itinerary to the travelling exhibition of an elephant, but things soon turned sour: apart from Chantelou he made no friends at court, and his frequent criticism of French art together with praise of Italian irritated his hosts; a painting by Guido Reni, he said, was alone worth half of Paris.

1665

A ceremony at the foundations of the Louvre extension

In October 1665, at an elaborate ceremony attended by Bernini and Louis XIV, the already built foundations of the Louvre extension to his design were inaugurated; the extension, however, was never built.

1667

The Louvre design is finally rejected

The designs for the Louvre's east front were formally rejected only in 1667, well after Bernini's departure; Colbert's memos cite not taste but security and comfort, and there was also an undoubted personal conflict, Bernini and the young king each feeling insufficiently respected by the other.

1667–1669

The plan for a new apse at Santa Maria Maggiore fails

His elaborate plan for a new apse of the basilica in which he would later be buried came to an unpleasant end amid public uproar over its cost and the destruction of ancient mosaics it entailed.