Portrait d'un artiste

1606–1642 · Residenza

House of Pietro and Gianlorenzo Bernini (Rome)

1623

Urban VIII becomes pope: the Barberini years

Bernini's old friend and former tutor Cardinal Maffeo Barberini became Pope Urban VIII and, until his death in 1644, gave the artist near-monopolistic patronage; Bernini was made curator of the papal art collection, director of the papal foundry at Castel Sant'Angelo and commissioner of the fountains of Piazza Navona.

1629

Appointed Architect of St Peter's

On the death of Carlo Maderno, Bernini, with virtually no architectural training, was appointed Architect of St Peter's, to the great protest of older, experienced masters; from then on his work stood at the symbolic heart of Rome.

1639

An arranged marriage at Urban's command

In May 1639 Bernini married the twenty-two-year-old Roman Caterina Tezio in an arranged marriage under orders from Pope Urban. They had eleven children, among them Domenico, who became his father's first biographer; afterwards, according to his early biographers, Bernini turned more sincerely to the practice of his faith.

1644

Urban VIII dies; disgrace under Innocent X

With the accession of Innocent X of the Barberini-hostile Pamphilj family, Bernini's career suffered an unprecedented four-year eclipse, partly because of the bell-tower affair; the pope nonetheless kept him in all his official roles, including Architect of St Peter's, and let him continue Urban VIII's tomb.

1646

The bell towers of St Peter's are demolished

Bernini's opponents, above all Borromini, persuaded Innocent X to order both towers demolished, to Bernini's great humiliation and a substantial fine. Investigations showed that the cracks came from Maderno's defective foundations rather than from Bernini's design.