The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (50 page)

Berger , John
.

See
KITCHEN SINK SCHOOL
.

 
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Berlinghieri
.

A family of Italian painters active at Lucca in the 13th cent. Berlinghiero Berlinghieri , the founder of the family, is called ‘Milanese’ in a document of 1228, which also mentions three sons,
Marco
,
Barone
, and
Bonaventura
. He is not otherwise known, but a painted
Crucifix
(now in the Lucca Pinacoteca) signed ‘Berlingeri’ without Christian name is attributed to him. A
Crucifix
in the Accademia, Florence, is also sometimes assigned to him. Bonaventura, the most talented of his sons, is known chiefly for his signed and dated altarpiece in the church of S. Francesco at Pescia (1235), which with its combination of solemn images and homely detail has been regarded as one of the most original, as it is one of the earliest, pictorial representations of Franciscan ideas. The
Scenes from the Life of St Francis
in Sta Croce, Florence, and the
St Francis receiving the Stigmata
in the Accademia, Florence, have also been attributed to him.

 
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(1899–1972).
Russian-born American painter and stage designer. He fled with his family to Paris in 1918 during the Russian Revolution and became friendly with
Tchelitchew
(another Russian emigré) and a group of painters who became known as *‘
Neo-Romantics
’, painting dreamlike scenes with mournful, drooping figures. In 1935 he emigrated to the USA and became an American citizen in 1937.

 
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(active 1474–98).
Spanish painter and stained glass designer, born in Cordova, but active in northern Spain—in Aragon and then in Barcelona from 1486. His
Pietà
in Barcelona Cathedral, signed and dated 1490, is one of the earliest Spanish
oil paintings
and one of the masterpieces of Spanish art of this period. Its intense naturalism recalls Nuño
Gonçalves
.

 
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(1868–1941).
French painter and writer. In 1884 he entered the studio of Fernand
Cormon
, where he was a contemporary of van
Gogh
and
Toulouse-Lautrec
, and also of Louis
Anquetin
, with whom he developed
Cloisonnism
. He then joined
Gauguin
at
Pont-Aven
and later claimed that it was he who in 1888 introduced Gauguin to the
Synthetist
manner: certainly the two worked closely together between 1888 and 1891 in Pont Aven and Paris, and Bernard seems to have had a stimulating effect on his great colleague. Thereafter, however, Bernard's work as a painter greatly declined in importance, and he became of interest chiefly for his activities as a writer, playing a significant role as a sponsor of
Post-Impressionism
.

 
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(1598–1680).
Italian sculptor, architect, painter, and designer, the supreme artist of the Italian
Baroque
. His father,
Pietro
(1562–1629), was a
Mannerist
sculptor of some distinction, active in Naples and then from
c.
1605 in Rome, and Gianlorenzo owed to him not only his early training in the handling of marble but also his introduction to the group of powerful patrons, the
Borghese
and the
Barberini
, who so promptly fostered his genius. For Cardinal Scipione Borghese he executed a remarkable series of life-size marble sculptures; in their dramatic vigour and movement they made a complete break with the Mannerist tradition, and they showed unprecedented virtuosity in making cold stone seem as supple as living flesh. These are
Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius
(1618–19), the
Rape of Proserpine
(1621–2),
David
(1623), and
Apollo and Daphne
(1622–5), all in the Borghese Gallery in Rome. After the election of Maffeo Barberini as Pope Urban VIII (1623) Bernini became the principal artist in the papal court and in Rome. According to
Baldinucci
, Maffeo had ‘scarcely ascended the sacred throne’ when he summoned Bernini and told him: ‘It is your great fortune to see Cardinal Maffeo Barberini Pope, but our fortune is far greater in that Cavalier Bernini lives during our pontificate.’ In 1629 he was appointed architect to St Peter's, for which his work included the great
baldacchino
over the High Altar (1624–33), and the huge statue of
St Longinus
(1629–38), which stands in a niche in one of the piers of the crossing. However, after Urban's death in 1644 Bernini fell under a cloud. This was partly because of one of his rare failures (a bell-tower he added to the façade of St Peter's was demolished in 1646 because of structural problems), but as much because of the different artistic tastes of the new pope, Innocent X, who favoured Bernini's rival,
Algardi
. During Innocent's papacy Bernini worked mainly for private patrons. The Cornaro Chapel, with the celebrated marble group of the
Ecstasy of St Teresa
, in Sta Maria della Vittoria dates from this period (1645–52). It is a comparatively small work, but an excellent example of Bernini's aims and achievement in the fusion of sculpture, architecture, and painting into a magnificent decorative whole. Bernini never lost his position as architect to St Peter's, however, and he did do some work for Innocent X, including the
Fountain of the Four Rivers
(1648–51) in the Piazza Navona. This is the most celebrated and spectacular of Bernini's fountains, and with these, his buildings, and his outdoor statuary he has had a greater effect on the face of Rome than any other artist. After Innocent's death in 1655 and the accession of Alexander VII Bernini was restored to full favour and was almost immediately given two major commissions at St Peter's: the decoration of the
Cathedra Petri
(Throne of St Peter), and the building of the vast colonnade round the piazza in front of the church. The
Cathedra Petri
(1657–66), a setting for the wooden chair believed to have been used by St Peter, provides an appropriately spectacular sight to conclude the vista at the east end of the church. Four immense bronze figures of Doctors of the Church support the chair, also encased in bronze, and gilt angels and cherubs float above on stucco clouds; they surround a window bearing an image of the Dove of the Holy Spirit, from which a burst of light seems to emanate. The enclosure of the piazza in front of St Peter's is his greatest achievement as an architect—a design of the utmost dignity and grandeur, expressing the overwhelming authority of the Church. Bernini himself compared the sweeping colonnades to motherly arms that reach out to ‘embrace Catholics to reinforce their belief’.
In 1665 Louis XIV invited Bernini to Paris to build the east front of the
Louvre
, but his plans were abandoned in favour of a French design, and the trip—which he had made unwillingly—was not a success. He returned to Rome in 1666 and continued to be extremely active into his old age. His late religious works were intensely spiritual, reflecting his own ardent commitment to Catholicism (
The Blessed Lodovica Albertoni
, S. Francesco a Ripa, Rome, 1671–4). As an architect his late work included important secular as well as religious buildings, notably the Palazzo Chigi-Odescalchi (begun 1664), which had great influence on Baroque palace design throughout Europe, and S. Andrea al Quirinale (1658–70), a fairly small church but one of his most so-phisticated designs in its use of rich architectural and sculptural decoration to create an appropriate setting for the mysteries of the Catholic faith. In addition to large works of sculpture and architecture, Bernini executed many portrait busts, among the finest of which are those of his mistress Costanza Buonarelli (
c.
1645), in the Bargello, Florence, and Louis XIV (1665) at Versailles. He was also a brilliant wit, a
caricaturist
, and—for his private pleasure—a painter of such high quality that his rare surviving works (which include several self-portraits) have sometimes been attributed to
Velázquez
. Examples of his paintings are in the National Gallery, London, and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Bernini also had a passionate interest in the theatre. There are few material remains of his activity in this field, but the diarist John Evelyn saw a remarkable demonstration of his versatility when visiting Rome in 1644: ‘Bernini… gave a public opera wherein he painted the scenes, cut the statues, invented the engines [stage machinery], composed the music, writ the comedy, and built the theatre.’
Bernini accurately predicted that his reputation would decline after his death. To the
Neoclassical
taste of the 18th cent. his approach to sculpture was anathema, to
Ruskin
in the 19th cent. it seemed ‘impossible for false taste and base feeling to sink lower’, and to the devotees of the idea of ‘truth to materials’ in the 20th cent. he appeared, in the words of his most distinguished apologist, Rudolf
Wittknower
, as Antichrist personified’. It is only fairly recently that he has come to enjoy a reputation, comparable with his status in his lifetime, as the greatest sculptor since
Michelangelo
and one of the giants of Baroque architecture.